USS Curlew (AMS-8)

	Laertes (AR-20) is flanked on her port by five minesweepers and on her starboard by five motor minesweepers at Sasebo, Japan, in 1952. USS Curlew (AMS-8) is the middle ship of the second group.
History
United States
Name	USS YMS-218
Builder	J. N. Martinac Shipbuilding Co.; Tacoma, Washington;
Laid down	18 July 1942
Launched	23 December 1942
Completed	23 June 1943
Commissioned	23 June 1943
Decommissioned	early 1947
Renamed	USS Curlew (AMS-8), 18 February 1947
Namesake	the curlew bird
Recommissioned	June 1949
Reclassified	MSC(O)-8, 7 February 1955
Motto	Where the fleet goes, we've been!
Fate	Transferred to South Korea, 6 January 1956
South Korea
Name	ROKS Geumhwa (MSC 519)
Acquired	6 January 1956
United States
Name	USS Curlew (MSC(O)-8)
Stricken	15 November 1974
Fate	disposed, c. 1977
General characteristics
Class and type	YMS-135 subclass of YMS-1-class minesweepers
Displacement	270 t.
Length	136 ft (41 m)
Beam	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Draft	8 ft (2.4 m)
Propulsion	Two 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines; Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear; two shafts.;
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement	32
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber dual purpose gun mount; 2 × 20 mm guns; 2 × depth charge projectors;

USS Curlew (MSC(O)-8/AMS-8/YMS-218) was a YMS-1-class minesweeper of the YMS-135 subclass built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the fourth U.S. Navy ship to be named for the curlew.

History

Laid down, 18 July 1942 by the J. N. Martinac Shipbuilding Co. of Tacoma, Washington; Launched, 23 December 1942; Completed and commissioned USS YMS-218, 23 June 1943.

She served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II, and took part in occupation activities in late 1945 and early 1946.

In early 1947, after returning to the U.S. West Coast, she was placed out of commission. YMS-218 was reclassified as a Motor Minesweeper, AMS-8 and named USS Curlew, 18 February 1947. Curlew recommissioned in June 1949.

Curlew was sent to the Western Pacific a year later to support Korean War operations. During most of that conflict, she was active in the combat zone, performing mine clearance and blockade missions. Curlew remained in the Japan-Korea area after the war ended in mid-1953. She was redesignated a Coastal Minesweeper (Old), MSC(O)-8, 7 February 1955.

Curlew was transferred to South Korea on 6 January 1956 as ROKS Geumhwa (MSC 519). Returned from South Korea, the veteran minesweeper was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 November 1974, and was disposed of about 1977.

References

Radigan, Joseph M. (2005). "Curlew (MSC[O] 8), ex-AMS-8, ex-YMS-218". NavSource Online. NavSource Naval History. Retrieved 29 December 2007.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

Photo gallery of Curlew at NavSource Naval History