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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Chaffinch (AM 81)


Goldcrest Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 1928 as the fishing trawler Trimont by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, MA for the Massachusetts Trawling Co., Boston, MA; Launched, (date unknown); Acquired by the Navy; 29 November 1940; Commissioned Chaffinch (AM 81), 16 July 1941. On 19 September 1942, Chaffinch collided with and sank the British Minesweeper HMS Pentland Firth between Ambrose Lightship and Sandy Hook, NJ. HMS Pentland Firth was one of 24 converted British fishing trawlers that was sent over to the U. S. early in the war to help protect the U. S. shores. Decommissioned, 12 December 1945 at Charleston, SC; Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown); Transferred to the Maritime Commission, 23 September 1946 and returned to her owners. Transferred to The Netherlands, 1947; Returned to the United States, (date unknown) and sold to the Silver Sea Co., Boston, MA; Renamed Medan; Sold, 1965 to the Medan Fishing Corp., Gloucester, MA; Sometime after 1969 she disappeared from the vessel registry. Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 401 t.; Length 122' 6"; Beam 23' 1"; Draft 10' 11"; Speed 10 kts; Complement 36; Armament one single 3"/50 gun mount; Propulsion, one 600hp Atlas-Imperial diesel engine, one shaft.
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DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site. The main archive for the DANFS Online Project.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

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

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