View source for USS Admirable

{{short description|Minesweeper of the United States Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Admirable-136.jpg
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption=USS ''Admirable'' (AM-136) underway in 1944.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''Admirable'' (AMc-113)
|Ship builder=[[Tampa Shipbuilding Company]], [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]], [[Florida]]
|Ship reclassified=AM-136, 21 February 1942
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship laid down= 8 April 1942
|Ship launched= 18 October 1942
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Ann Pillsbury Fehr
|Ship commissioned=20 April 1943
|Ship decommissioned=19 July 1945<ref name="transfer date">The [https://web.archive.org/web/20040221125702/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a3/admirable.htm ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' ''Admirable''] article states that the U.S. Navy decommissioned and transferred ''Admirable'' on 18 July 1945, and [http://www.navsource.net/archives/11/02136.htm NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive Admirable (MSF 136) ex-AM-136 ex-AMc-113] and [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am136.htm hazegray.org ''Admirable''] repeat this. However, more recent research in Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, p. 39, which includes access to Soviet-era records unavailable during the [[Cold War]], reports that the transfer date was 19 July 1945. As sources, Russell cites Department of the Navy, ''Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels'' Volume II, 1 January 1949, (NAVSHIPS 250-012), Washington, DC: Bureau of Ships, 1949; and Berezhnoi, S. S., ''Flot SSSR: Korabli i suda lendliza: Spravochnik'' ("The Soviet Navy: Lend-Lease Ships and Vessels: A Reference"), St. Petersburg, Russia: Belen, 1994. According to Russell, Project Hula ships were decommissioned by the U.S. Navy simultaneously with their transfer to and commissioning by the Soviet Navy – see photo captions on p. 24 regarding the transfers of various [[large infantry landing craft]] (LCI(L)s) and information on p. 27 about the transfer of {{USS|Coronado|PF-38}}, which Russell says typified the transfer process – indicating that ''Admirable''{{'}}s U.S. Navy decommissioning, transfer, and Soviet Navy commissioning all occurred simultaneously on 19 July 1945.</ref>
|Ship fate= Transferred to [[Soviet Navy]], 19 July 1945<ref name="transfer date"/>
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship reclassified=MSF-136, 7 February 1955
|Ship struck=1 January 1983
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Soviet Union
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}}
|Ship name=''T-331''<ref name="Soviet name">The [https://web.archive.org/web/20040221125702/http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a3/admirable.htm ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' ''Admirable''] article states that ''Admirable'' was named ''T-521'' in Soviet service, and [http://www.navsource.net/archives/11/02136.htm NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive Admirable (MSF 136) ex-AM-136 ex-AMc-113] and [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am136.htm hazegray.org ''Admirable''] repeat this, but more recent research in Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, pp. 39–40, which includes access to Soviet-era records unavailable during the [[Cold War]], finds that the ship's Soviet name was ''T-331'', while an [[auxiliary motor minesweeper]], the former {{USS|YMS-59}}, also transferred in 1945, had the Soviet name ''T-521''. As sources, Russell cites Department of the Navy, ''Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels'' Volume II, 1 January 1949, (NAVSHIPS 250-012), Washington, DC: Bureau of Ships, 1949; and Berezhnoi, S. S., ''Flot SSSR: Korabli i suda lendliza: Spravochnik'' ("The Soviet Navy: Lend-Lease Ships and Vessels: A Reference"), St. Petersburg, Russia: Belen, 1994.</ref>
|Ship acquired=19 July 1945<ref name="transfer date"/>
|Ship commissioned=19 July 1945<ref name="transfer date"/>
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship struck=
|Ship fate=Stricken 1958<ref name="scrap">[http://www.navsource.net/archives/11/02136.htm NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive Admirable (MSF 136) ex-AM-136 ex-AMc-113] states that the ship was scrapped in 1954, while Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, p. 39, reports that the ship's Soviet name was ''T-331'' and states that ''T-331'' was stricken in 1958. As sources, Russell cites Department of the Navy, ''Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels'' Volume II, 1 January 1949, (NAVSHIPS 250-012), Washington, DC: Bureau of Ships, 1949; and Berezhnoi, S. S., ''Flot SSSR: Korabli i suda lendliza: Spravochnik'' ("The Soviet Navy: Lend-Lease Ships and Vessels: A Reference"), St. Petersburg, Russia: Belen, 1994. Russell, p. 40., also states that ''T-521'' – a Soviet name previously attributed to ''Admirable'' but now identified as belonging to the former {{USS|YMS-59}}, was stricken in 1956, ruling out this misidentification as a reason for confusion over the ship's fate, and it is unclear why NavSource asserts a 1954 scrapping date.</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class={{sclass|Admirable|minesweeper|1}}
|Ship displacement=650 tons
|Ship length={{convert|184|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|9|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 ×  ALCO [[diesel engine]]s, 1,710 shp (1.3 MW)
* 2 shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|15|kn|km/h|1}}
|Ship complement=104
|Ship armament=*1 ×  [[3"/50 caliber gun]]
* 6 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]
* 4 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors 40 mm gun]]
* 1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]]
* 4 × [[depth charge]] projectors
* 2 × depth charge racks
* 2 × Minesweeping [[Paravane (weapon)|paravanes]]
}}
{{Infobox service record
|is_ship=yes
|partof=*[[United States Pacific Fleet]] (1943–1945)
* [[Pacific Fleet (Russia)|Soviet Pacific Ocean Fleet]] (1945-1958)
}}
|}
'''USS ''Admirable'' (AM-136)''' was the [[lead ship]] of [[Admirable class minesweeper|her class]] of [[Minesweeper (ship)|minesweeper]] built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. In commission from 1943 to 1945, she was transferred to the [[Soviet Navy]] in 1945 and served as '''''T-331''''' until stricken in 1958.<ref name="Soviet name"/>

==Construction and commissioning==
Originally classified as a "coastal minesweeper," '''AMc-113''', ''Admirable'' was reclassified as a minesweeper, AM-136, on 21 February 1942. She was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 8 April 1942 at [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]], [[Florida]], by the [[Tampa Shipbuilding Company]]. She was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 18 October 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Ann Pillsbury Fehr, daughter of [[Commander (United States)|Commander]] Horace W. Pillsbury, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 20 April 1943.

==Service history==

===U.S. Navy, World War II, 1943–1945===
''Admirable'' departed Tampa on 23 April 1943 and conducted a [[shakedown cruise]] in the [[Gulf of Mexico]] before heading for [[Hampton Roads, Virginia|Hampton Roads]], [[Virginia]], on 23 June 1943. ''Admirable'' operated out of [[Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek]], Virginia, for five months of training in [[antisubmarine warfare]], [[minelaying]], and [[Minesweeper (ship)|mine sweeping]] techniques. After upkeep and [[fitting-out]], she departed [[Naval Station Norfolk]], Virginia, on 28 November 1943 in company with the [[internal combustion engine]] [[repair ship]] {{USS|Luzon|ARG-2}} for duty in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific]]. Transiting the [[Panama Canal]] on 8 December 1943, ''Admirable'' continued on to [[San Diego, California]], where she moored on 18 December 1943. In January 1944, following tests at the [[West Coast Sound School]], she received orders to proceed independently to [[Adak, Alaska|Adak]], [[Territory of Alaska]]. During the voyage, she encountered heavy seas which damaged her [[sonar]] gear. Following her arrival in [[Kuluk Bay]], [[Adak Island]], on 6 February 1944, she was [[drydock]]ed for repairs.

On 13 February 1944, ''Admirable'' was assigned to [[Task Group]] 91.2 (TG 91.2). She operated from Adak, escorting [[merchant ship|merchant]] and [[troopship]]s to such ports in Alaska and the [[Aleutian Islands]] as [[Kodiak, Alaska|Kodiak]], [[Dutch Harbor, Alaska|Dutch Harbor]], [[Amchitka]], [[Kiska, Alaska|Kiska]], [[Cold Bay, Alaska|Cold Bay]], and [[Attu Island]]. On four occasions during her 18-month tour in the Aleutians, ''Admirable'' went alongside the [[destroyer tender]] {{USS|Black Hawk|AD-9}} at Adak briefly to repair damage caused by the cold weather, heavy seas, and violent, gusting winds known as "[[williwaw]]s".

In July 1944, ''Admirable'' began to clear the [[minefield]] in [[Chiniak Bay]] off [[Kodiak Island]]. She was the lead ship of a group, composed of the minesweepers {{USS|Augury|AM-149}}, {{USS|Agile|AMc-111}}, and {{USS|Affray|AMc-112}}, and the [[auxiliary motor minesweeper]] {{USS|YMS-285}}, which, on 2 August 1944, began a sweep of the channel to [[St. Paul's Harbor]]. The minesweepers then established patrols outside the harbor to await the arrival of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] aboard the [[heavy cruiser]] {{USS|Baltimore|CA-68}}. Roosevelt had left San Diego on 14 July, steamed to [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Territory of Hawaii]], to meet with [[General (United States)|General]] [[Douglas MacArthur]] and [[Admiral (United States)|Admiral]] [[Chester Nimitz]] to discuss plans for the [[Philippines campaign, 1944-45|invasion of the Philippines]], and stopped at Kodiak on 7 August 1944. ''Baltimore'' pulled out of St. Paul{{'}}s Harbor the same day, and Roosevelt continued his journey back to the United States aboard the [[destroyer]] {{USS|Cummings|DD-365}}. ''Admirable'' then resumed escort duty and continued that work into March 1945.

On 14 March 1945, ''Admirable''{{'}}s [[commanding officer]] was designated [[officer in tactical command]] of eight ships and all aircraft participating in a combined air-surface attack on a fictitious [[submarine]] in Kuluk Bay. The minesweeper then returned to her escort duties.

Selected for transfer to the [[Soviet Navy]] in [[Project Hula]], a secret program for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy at Cold Bay in anticipation of the [[Soviet Union]] joining the [[Pacific War]], ''Admirable'' proceeded to Dutch Harbor in May 1945 for repairs preparatory to her transfer. Because of the continual beating of the heavy seas, {{convert|12|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} of the forward end of each of her [[bilge keel]]s as well as her sonar gear were replaced. With her repairs complete, she then steamed to Cold Bay, where Soviet Navy [[Rear Admiral]] [[Boris Dmitrievich Popov]], the Soviet commanding officer at Cold Bay under Project Hula, inspected ''Admirable'' on 30 May 1945 and accepted her for transfer to the Soviet Union. On 18 June 1945, a Soviet crew reported on board to train for one month in gunnery, engineering, and mine sweeping procedures.

===Soviet Navy, 1945–1958===
Following the completion of training for her Soviet crew, ''Admirable'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 19 July 1945 at Cold Bay and transferred to the Soviet Union under [[Lend-Lease]] immediately.<ref name="transfer date"/> Also commissioned into the Soviet Navy immediately, she was designated as a ''{{lang|ru-Latn|tralshik}}'' ("mine sweeper") and renamed '''''T-331''''' in Soviet service.<ref name="Soviet name"/> She soon departed Cold Bay bound for [[Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky]] in the Soviet Union, where she served in the [[Soviet Far East]].<ref>Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet–American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, p. 39.</ref>

In February 1946, the United States began negotiations for the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Union for use during World War II, and on 8 May 1947, [[United States Secretary of the Navy]] [[James V. Forrestal]] informed the [[United States Department of State]] that the [[United States Department of the Navy]] wanted 480 of the 585 combatant ships it had transferred to the Soviet Union returned. Deteriorating relations between the two countries as the [[Cold War]] broke out led to protracted negotiations over the ships, and by the mid-1950s the U.S. Navy found it too expensive to bring home ships that had become worthless to it anyway. Many ex-American ships were merely administratively "returned" to the United States and instead sold for scrap in the Soviet Union, while the U.S. Navy did not seriously pursue the return of others because it viewed them as no longer worth the cost of recovery.<ref>Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet–American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, pp. 37–38, 39.</ref> The Soviet Union never returned ''Admirable'' to the United States, although the U.S. Navy reclassified her as a "fleet minesweeper" (MSF) and renamed her '''MSF-136''' on 7 February 1955.

==Disposal==
''T-331'' was stricken in 1958<ref name="scrap"/> and apparently was sold for scrap in the Soviet Union. Unaware of this, the U.S. Navy retained ''Admirable'' on its [[Naval Vessel Register]] until finally striking her name on 1 January 1983.

==References==
* {{DANFS|http://history.navy.mil/danfs/a3/admirable.htm}}
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|11/02136}}
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am136.htm hazegray.org: USS ''Admirable'']

{{Admirable-class minesweepers|others}}
{{Project Hula ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Admirable}}
[[Category:Admirable-class minesweepers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Tampa, Florida]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United States]]
[[Category:Admirable-class minesweepers of the Soviet Navy]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Cold War minesweepers of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Ships transferred under Project Hula]]