USSPicket(ACM-8)

For other ships with the same name, seeUSS PicketandUSCGC Willow.

Army M 1 Mine Planter USAMP MP-7Major General Wallace F. Randolpha sister ship to USAMP-1General Henry Knox.Records (#742), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
History
United States
Name	USSPicket(ACM-8)
Builder	Marietta Manufacturing Company, Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Laid down	as USAMP-1General Henry Knoxfor theU.S. Army Mine Planter Service
Completed	1942 – Navy conversion: 15 March 1945
Acquired	2 January 1945
Commissioned	6 March 1945
Decommissioned	24 June 1946
Reclassified	ACM-8, 5 March 1945
Stricken	19 July 1946
Fate	Transferred to the Coast Guard, 24 June 1946
General characteristics
Displacement	1,320 long tons (1,341 t) full
Length	188 ft 2 in (57.35 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draft	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Propulsion	Skinner Engine Company reciprocating steam engine; 2 Combustion Engineering boilers; twin propellers; 1,200 SHP.
Speed	12.5knots(23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Complement	69
Armament	1 ×40 mmgun
United States
Name	Willow(WAGL/WLB-332)
Acquired	1947
Commissioned	20 September 1947
Decommissioned	10 October 1969
Identification	IMO number:7338298
Fate	Deleted from registers 1993
General characteristics
Displacement	1,240 long tons (1,260 t) full
Length	188 ft 2 in (57.35 m)
Beam	37 ft (11 m)
Draft	12 ft 6 in (3.81 m)
Propulsion	Skinner Engine Company reciprocating steam engine; 2 Combustion Engineering boilers; twin propellers; 1,200 SHP.
Speed	12.5knots(23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Range	2,450 miles @ 8.5knots(15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph)
Complement	52
Armament	Small arms only
Notes	20-ton boom capacity

USSPicket(ACM–8)was aChimo-classminelayerof theUnited States NavyduringWorld War II.

Picketwas completed 15 April 1942 by Marietta Manufacturing Co.,Point Pleasant, West Virginia,as theU.S. Army mine planterUSAMP-1General Henry Knoxas the first of theWW II period plantersbuilt for theU.S. Army Mine Planter Service.USAMPKnoxwas transferred to theU.S. Navy2 January 1945; completed conversion to an Auxiliary Minelayer, ACM-8, atCharleston Navy Yard5 March 1945; and commissioned 6 March 1945.

Service history

Pacific Theatre operations

PicketdepartedCharleston, South Carolina,on 11 March 1945, and arrivedLittle Creek, Virginia,13 March. Following shakedown, she reported for duty 3 April to Commander, Service Force, Atlantic,Norfolk, Virginia.Loaded withminesweepingequipment, she departedNorfolk26 April, transited thePanama Canal7 May, and arrived San Diego, 20 May. Following training,Picketdeparted San Diego 9 June, and proceeded viaPearl Harbor,Eniwetok,Guam,andSaipantoOkinawa,arriving 28 July to serve as minesweeper tender.

PicketdepartedOkinawaon 16 August, and, following rendezvous withTask Force 31on the 21st, she enteredTokyo Bayon the 28th. With minesweepers, she departedTokyo Bayon 12 September, and arrived atWakayama, Japan,on the 14th.

Sailing fromKii Suidoon 20 September, she entered theInland Seaon the 22nd. Through 31 October she operated withminesweepersto clear the approaches toHiro,Kure,Gunchū,andMatsuyamaforU.S. Armylandings.

Navy Decommissioning

Following postwar occupation duties,Picketreturned to the United States. She decommissioned 24 June 1946, and was transferred to theU.S. Coast Guardthat date. She was struck from theNaval Vessel Register19 July 1946.

U.S. Coast Guard

The ex-Picket(ACM 8) ex-General Henry Knoxwas commissioned 20 September 1947 as USCGCWillow(WAGL/WLB-332). The ship was converted to a buoy tender and assigned to San Juan, Puerto Rico from 23 July 1947 until transfer to San Francisco, California during June 1949.Willow'sarea of responsibility extended from San Luis Obispo Bay to the Golden Gate, northern San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay and Suisun and shared logistics support of theFarallon Island Light Stationand the San Francisco Lightship withUSCGCMagnolia(WAGL/WLB-328).On 10 October 1969 Willow was decommissioned and stored at the Coast Guard Training Support Center in Alameda, California. As a buoy tender, the largest in the Coast Guard at time of conversion, duties were tending navigational aids and conducting search and rescue and law enforcement as needed.

See also

• List of ships of the United States Army
• U.S. Army mine planter

References

• This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.The entry can be foundhere.

External links

• Photo galleryof USSPicket(ACM-8) at NavSource Naval History
• ACM-8 USS Picketat Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940–1945
• Minecraftat Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940–1945
• Allied Ships Present in Tokyo Bay During the Surrender Ceremony, 2 September 1945