USS ''Scurry'' (AM-304) was a steel-hulled constructed for the U.S. Navy during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was crewed by sailors who were trained in minesweeping, and quickly sent to the Pacific Ocean to clear

minefield A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

s so that

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces could invade Japanese-held beaches. For this dangerous work, often under enemy fire, she was awarded four battle stars. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 24 May 1943 by

Associated Shipbuilders Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company was a major shipbuilding and construction company, located in Seattle, Washington, on the southwestern corner of Harbor Island, Seattle, Harbor Island, an artificial island in Elliott Bay. The Bridge and Dr ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and launched on 1 October 1943; sponsored by Miss Winette DeLaye. The minesweeper was commissioned on 29 July 1944. The spelling of her name was changed from ''Skurry'' to ''Scurry'' on 3 August 1944.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

Following

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, ...

between 15 August and 19 September 1944, ''Scurry'' departed the west coast on 1 October escorting a convoy to

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with it ...

. After arriving there on 3 November, ''Scurry'' escorted convoys in the vicinity of Eniwetok and Manus until returning to

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

on 13 December. Between 31 December 1944 and 18 January 1945, the ship underwent two six-day periods of minesweeping training off

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...

Supporting the Invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa

She sailed on 22 January to support the landings at

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

. Arriving there three days before the assault she swept the assault and transport areas in preparation for the larger ships. Departing Iwo Jima on 3 March, the ship arrived off

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

on 25 March and carried out a week of preparatory sweeps before the landings there. She remained off Okinawa until 8 July, sweeping mines and maintaining antisubmarine patrols around the transports. The minesweeper underwent overhaul at

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, from 13 July to 17 August and, after escorting a convoy to Okinawa, sailed from there on 30 August to clear minefields off Japan.

End-of-War Pacific Theater operations

''Scurry'' swept mines in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour terms ...

between 1 and 7 September, and then helped to sweep the approaches to

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

and

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

, Japan. She was one of the last American ships to enter these ports after the war. Between 17 and 26 September, she acted as pilot vessel at Nagasaki for transports repatriating Allied

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. She then returned to mine clearance operations, sweeping in the

Korea Strait The Korea Strait is a sea passage in East Asia between Korea and Japan, connecting the East China Sea, the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan in the northwest Pacific Ocean. The strait is split by the Tsushima Island into the Western Channel and t ...

until sailing from Sasebo for the United States on 10 December.

Post-war decommissioning

The minesweeper arrived at

Orange, Texas Orange is a city and the county seat of Orange County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 19,324. It is the easternmost city in Texas, located on the Sabine River at the border with Louisiana, and is from Houst ...

, on 24 April 1946, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve there on 29 June 1946. ''Scurry'' was reclassified MSF-304 on 7 February 1955. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1967 and converted into a salvage training hulk for use by the U.S. Navy at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. Used as a test target ''Scurry'' was sunk off the

Virginia Capes The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America. In 1610, a supply ship learned of the famine at Jamestown when it l ...

on 14 August 1967.

Awards

''Scurry'' received 4

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

s for her World War II service.

References

External links

NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - ''Scurry'' (MSF 304) - ex-''Scurry'' (AM 304) - ex-''Skurry'' (AM 304)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scurry Admirable-class minesweepers Ships built in Seattle 1943 ships World War II minesweepers of the United States Ships sunk as targets Maritime incidents in 1967 Shipwrecks of the Virginia coast