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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

HMS Tourmaline (J 339)
ex-Usage (AM 130)


Usage served the Navies of Great Britain and Turkey.
Auk Class Minesweeper: Laid down 1 January 1942 as Usage (AM 130) by the Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chickasaw, AL; Launched 4 October 1942; Completed and transferred to Great Britain as HMS Tourmaline (J 339), 7 June 1943; Returned to U.S. custody in January 1947, struck from the Navy list, transferred to the Foreign Liquidation Commission for disposition and sold to Turkey as Cardak (M 507); Served with the Turkish Navy until 1974. Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 890 t.; Length 221' 2"; Beam 32'; Draft 10' 9"; Speed 18.1 kts.; Complement 105; Armament one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two single 40mm gun mounts, two single 20mm gun mounts, two depth charge tracks, five depth charge projectiles; Propulsion two 3,532shp General Motors 12-278 diesel electric engines, Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts.

Click on thumbnail
for full size image		 Size Image Description Source
Usage 117k 7 September 1943
Navy Yard, Charleston, SC
Starboard quarter view
U.S. Navy photo		 Robert Hall
View the Usage (AM 130)
DANFS history entry located on the Naval Historical Center web site.
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
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