USS Seer (AM-112)
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USS ''Seer'' (AM-112/MSF-112/MMC-5) was an of the United States Navy that served during World War II and the Korean War, and was sold to Norway in 1962. ''Seer'' was laid down on 28 November 1941 by the
American Ship Building Company The American Ship Building Company was the dominant shipbuilder on the Great Lakes before the World War II, Second World War. It started as Cleveland Shipbuilding in Cleveland, Ohio in 1888 and opened the yard in Lorain, Ohio in 1898. It changed ...
of
Lorain, Ohio Lorain () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on Lake Erie, at the mouth of the Black River, about 30 miles west of Cleveland. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 65 ...
. Launched on 23 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. J.P. Conley, and commissioned on 21 October 1942.


Service history


US East Coast, 1942–1943

Following commissioning, ''Seer'' proceeded from the Great Lakes to Chesapeake Bay for
shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...
; then commenced minesweeping, anti-submarine patrol, and coastal escort work in the
5th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...
. In April 1943, her division, Mine Division (
MinDiv MinDiv was a standard U.S. Navy abbreviation or acronym for "Minesweeper Division." The Commander of a minesweeper division is known, in official Navy communications, as COMMINDIV (followed by a number), such as COMMINDIV EIGHT. References See ...
) 16, joined Task Force 68 at
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; whence, on the 5th, she got underway to escort a convoy to North Africa.


Invasion of Sicily and Italy, 1943

By the end of the month, the convoy had reached
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
. During May and June as the forces scheduled to participate in Operation "Husky" — the invasion of Sicily — gathered in Algerian and Tunisian harbors — ''Seer'', now a unit of the 8th Amphibious Force's Escort-Sweeper group, escorted ships to
Bizerte Bizerte or Bizerta ( ar, بنزرت, translit=Binzart , it, Biserta, french: link=no, Bizérte) the classical Hippo, is a city of Bizerte Governorate in Tunisia. It is the northernmost city in Africa, located 65 km (40mil) north of the cap ...
,
Oran Oran ( ar, وَهران, Wahrān) is a major coastal city located in the north-west of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria after the capital Algiers, due to its population and commercial, industrial, and cultural ...
, Ghazaouet, and
Sousse Sousse or Soussa ( ar, سوسة, ; Berber:''Susa'') is a city in Tunisia, capital of the Sousse Governorate. Located south of the capital Tunis, the city has 271,428 inhabitants (2014). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf ...
; and patrolled off these ports. On 6 July, she joined the "Joss" attack force; and, on the 9th, she departed for Sicily. The next morning, she arrived off
Licata Licata (, ; grc, Φιντίας, whence la, Phintias or ''Plintis''), formerly also Alicata (), is a city and ''comune'' located on the south coast of Sicily, at the mouth of the Salso River (the ancient ''Himera''), about midway between Agr ...
; and, as the 3rd Infantry Division went ashore, she patrolled on a line four miles off "Red Beach". On the 11th, she was en route back to Bizerte to join another landing craft convoy and escort it to southern Sicily. By the end of the month, she had brought up another convoy, and
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
had fallen. In August, she began escorting ships to that port. As the ships offloaded, she added her armament to that protecting the harbor and covering the push to
Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
. By mid-month, she had completed a second Bizerte-Palermo run; and, on the 17th, as Messina fell, she was caught in an air raid and took a small shell or small fragmentation bomb near the after 3-inch gun. Eight of her crew were injured; but, by the 19th, she was back at Palermo, whence she proceeded to Licata, Bizerte, and then to
Mers El Kébir Mers El Kébir ( ar, المرسى الكبير, translit=al-Marsā al-Kabīr, lit=The Great Harbor ) is a port on the Mediterranean Sea, near Oran in Oran Province, northwest Algeria. It is famous for the attack on the French fleet in 1940, in t ...
to prepare for the invasion of the Italian mainland at
Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
. A unit of Task Force 81, she entered Salerno Bay on 8 September and commenced sweeping the transport area. Through the 11th, she continued sweeping despite interruptions during dive bombing attacks; then, until the 16th, she performed patrol duties. For the next 10 days, she alternated Sicily-to-Salerno convoy duty with patrol work; and, on the 26th, she cleared the area to return to North Africa. Repairs alongside followed; and, in mid-October, she resumed escort work with runs to Naples.


Invasion of Southern France, 1944

''Seer'' continued to escort merchant ship and amphibious convoys to Italy into the summer of 1944 when she joined the forces assigned to Operation "Dragoon," the landings in southern France. Departing Naples on 12 August, she moved toward the French coast; and, during the pre-dawn hours of the 15th, commenced sweeping the boat lanes leading to "Red Beach" on the Baie de
Cavalaire Cavalaire-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cavalaire on Sea''; oc, Cavalaira de Mar, label= Provençal or simply ''Cavalaira'') is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, southeastern France. History Cavalaire-sur-Mer i ...
. Further sweeping operations in the assault area and off Toulon and Marseille followed; and, for almost a month, she escaped damage from German mines and coastal guns. On 10 September, however, she struck a moored contact mine in the Rade d'Hyères. Three were killed, 20 injured. Hull and engine damage was severe. Emergency repairs were performed at Toulon by the Royal Navy repair ship HM ''LSE-2''; and, on 20 September, she was taken in tow by fleet tug for Palermo. Further temporary repairs were completed there on 9 November, when she started back to the United States.


Return to the United States

Sailing via Bizerte and Oran, ''Seer'' arrived at Yorktown, Virginia, on 11 December and began repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard on the 14th. By mid-March 1945, the work was completed, and the minesweeper conducted a series of tests off the Virginia coast for the Naval Ordnance Laboratory. During April, she operated off southern Florida.


Pacific Fleet, 1945–1947

In early May, she transited the Panama Canal en route to Pearl Harbor where she rejoined her division, now assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Flagship of the division, ''Seer'' remained in Hawaiian waters until after the end of the war. On 17 August, she headed west to participate in postwar minesweeping operations off Japan,
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, and the China coast. On 15 January 1946, she departed Sasebo for the United States and inactivation. She arrived at San Pedro on 14 February; remained on the west coast into November; then got underway for Orange, Texas, where she was decommissioned on 26 April 1947 and berthed with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.


Korean War, 1950–1955

After the outbreak of the Korean War, ''Seer'' was ordered reactivated. Recommissioned on 8 November 1950, she joined MinDiv 8 and for the remainder of the war performed training and schoolship duties out of
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, conducting periodic tours at Mayport and Panama City, Florida. In January 1954, she returned to the Mediterranean for a four-month tour with the 6th Fleet. At the end of May, she returned to Charleston to resume operations from that port and from Panama City. On 6 January 1955, however, she departed Charleston to return to the inactive fleet.


Decommissioning and sale

Reclassified MSF-112 on 7 February 1955, four days later she was decommissioned and berthed at Green Cove Springs, Florida. The ship was reclassified as a Coastal Minelayer, MMC-5, on 31 October 1958. The conversion to a coastal minelayer began in Norway in September 1960, and was completed in September 1962. The ship was transferred to the Royal Norwegian Navy on 15 December 1962 and renamed KNM ''Uller'' (N 50). ''Seer'' was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1963. ''Seer'' earned six battle stars during World War II.


References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Seer (AM-112) Auk-class minesweepers of the United States Navy Ships built in Lorain, Ohio 1942 ships World War II minesweepers of the United States Gor-class minelayers