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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Courtesy of Robert Hurst

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 Register, transferred to the Foreign Liquidation Commission for disposition, sold to Turkey and renamed TCG Çardak (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 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two single 40mm gun mounts, two single 20mm gun mounts, two depth charge tracks and five depth charge projectors
  • 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
    HMS Tourmaline (J 339)
    Usage 157k National Maritime Museum photo TFF-1 Paul Silverstone
    Usage 117k 7 September 1943
    Navy Yard, Charleston, SC
    Starboard quarter view
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Robert Hall
    TCG Çardak (M 507)
    Usage 85k . Cüneyt Demir
    View the Usage (AM 130)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
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