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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Improve (AM-247)

Call sign:
Nan - Fox - Yoke - Dog

Admirable Class Minesweeper:

Laid down 1 June 1943 at Savannah Machine and Foundry Co., Savannah, GA

Launched 26 September 1943

Commissioned USS Improve (AM-247), 29 February 1944

Decommissioned 6 November 1946 at Seattle, WA

Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in February 1948 for disposal

Sold 24 February 1949 to Ricardo Granja and renamed Ecuador

Sunk in 1953.

Specifications:

Displacement 945 t.(fl)

Length 184' 6"

Beam 33'

Draft 9' 9"

Speed 14.8 kts.

Complement 104

Armament: One 3"/50 cal. dual purpose mount and two 40mm gun mount, six 20mm gun mounts, one depth charge projector (hedgehog), four depth charge projectors (K-guns) and two depth charge tracks

Propulsion: Two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts.

Click on thumbnail for full size image	Size	Image Description		Source
	38k	c. June 1945		Naval Minewarfare Association

Commanding Officers
01	LCDR Paul William Howle, Jr., USNR	29 February 1944 - 23 February 1945
02	LT Byron Henry Patek, USNR	23 February 1945 - 1 December 1945
03	LT John Lee Brewer, USN	27 May 1946 - 6 November 1946

Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and R. A. Moody

View the Improve (AM-247)
DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen

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