USS Facility (AM-233)

For other ships of the same name, see ARM DM-04.

Career (United States)
Name:	USS PCE-906
Builder:	Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, Seattle
Laid down:	29 March 1944
Renamed:	USS Facility (AM-233)
Launched:	22 June 1944
Commissioned:	29 November 1944
Decommissioned:	11 September 1946
Reclassified:	MSF-233, 7 February 1955
Struck:	1 May 1962
Fate:	Transferred to Mexican Navy, 2 October 1962
Career (Mexico)
Name:	ARM DM-04
Acquired:	2 October 1962
Fate:	unknown
General characteristics
Class and type:	Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, 1,710 shp (1,280 kW) National Supply Co. single reduction gear 2 shafts
Speed:	15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:	104
Armament:	1 × 3"/50 caliber (76 mm) DP gun 2 × twin Bofors 40 mm guns 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 2 × Depth charge tracks
Service record
Part of:	U.S. Pacific Fleet (1944–1946) Mexican Navy (from 1962)
Operations:	Battle of Okinawa
Awards:	3 Battle stars

USS Facility (AM-233) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was ordered and laid down as patrol craft USS PCE-906 but was renamed and reclassified before her June 1944 launch as Facility (AM-233). After earning three battle stars for service in the Pacific during World War II, she was decommissioned in September 1946 and placed in reserve. While in reserve, Facility was reclassified as MSF-233 in February 1955 but never reactivated. In October 1962, she was sold to the Mexican Navy and renamed ARM DM-04. Her ultimate fate is not reported in secondary sources; she may have been out of service by April 1973 when another member of the Admirable class was acquired by the Mexican Navy and given the name DM-04.

U.S. Navy career

Initially named PCE-906 and classed as a patrol craft, the ship was laid down on 29 March 1944 at the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company of Seattle. Renamed Facility and converted to an Admirable-class minesweeper, she was launched by sponsor Miss Clara Lee Davis on 22 June 1944. After completion, she was commissioned on 29 November 1944, with Lieutenant C. R. Jennette, USNR, in command.

Facility underwent shakedown training and proceeded to San Pedro, California, and thence to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 17 February. After escorting the minelayer USS Weehawken (CM-12) to Eniwetok early in March, Facility began sweeping under the command of Task Group TG 52.5 preliminary to the assault landings on Okinawa on 1 April. She continued to support the operation until damaged by a near miss during a heavy suicide attack and was forced to put into Ulithi on 22 April for repairs. She resumed sweeping operations, and, after replenishing supplies in Buckner Bay, joined Task Group TG 52.4 to participate with TG 52.3 in clearing the approaches to Nagasaki, Japan.

Late in September she swept the Bungo Suido and other areas of the Inland Sea. The rest of the year was occupied in overhaul at Hiro Wan and in sweeping the Van Dieman Straits.

In the first two months of 1946 Facility journeyed from Sasebo to Saipan, Eniwetok, and Pearl Harbor before making her first return to the States. She underwent overhaul at San Pedro, California, transited the Panama Canal on 22 March, and on to Galveston, Texas. While she remained in reserve at Galveston, she was reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull), MSF-233 on 7 February 1955. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1962 and sold to Mexico on 2 October. USS Facility received three battle stars for World War II service.

Mexican Navy career

The former Facility was acquired by the Mexican Navy on 2 October 1962 and renamed ARM DM-04. Her fate is not reported in secondary sources; she may have been out of service by April 1973 when another member of the Admirable class was acquired by the Mexican Navy and also named DM-04.^[1]

Notes

1. ^ Radigan, Joseph M. (2006). "Specter (MSF 306), ex-Specter (AM 306), ex-Spector". Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive. NavSource Online. http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02306.htm. Retrieved 1 December 2009. 

References

• This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Radigan, Joseph M. (2006). "Facility (MSF 233), ex-Facility (AM 233), ex-PCE-906". Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive. NavSource Online. http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02233.htm. Retrieved 1 December 2009.