USS Magnet (AM-260)

History
United States
Name	USS Magnet (AM-260)
Builder	American Ship Building Company
Laid down	13 March 1943
Launched	5 June 1943
Commissioned	10 March 1944
Decommissioned	28 August 1945
Fate	Transferred to the Republic of China, 28 August 1945
Stricken	12 March 1948
History
Taiwan
Name	ROCS Yung Ning 永寧
Acquired	28 August 1945
Decommissioned	March 1st 1958
Fate	Stranded from typhoon on 27 January 1958
General characteristics
Class and type	Admirable-class minesweeper
Displacement	650 tons
Length	184 ft 6 in (56.24 m)
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draft	9 ft 9 in (2.97 m)
Propulsion	2 × ALCO 539 diesel engines, 1,710 shp (1.3 MW); Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear; 2 shafts;
Speed	14.8 knots (27.4 km/h)
Complement	104
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber gun DP; 2 × twin Bofors 40 mm guns; 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar; 2 × Depth charge tracks;
Service record
Part of:	U.S. Atlantic Fleet (1944–1945); Republic of China Navy (1945–1958);

The second USS Magnet (AM-260) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was built to clear minefields in offshore waters, and served the Navy in the Atlantic Ocean.

Career

Magnet was laid down by American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio, 13 March 1943; launched 5 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John J. Boland; and commissioned 10 March 1944.

Following commissioning in the 9th Naval District, Magnet steamed down the Mississippi River en route to Norfolk, Virginia, reporting 17 April 1944. After shakedown in the Chesapeake Bay, she joined Mine Division 31 and, for the next 9 months operated out of Recife, Brazil, sweeping the main shipping channels of South American ports. She also escorted convoys to and from the West Indies, patrolled the harbor, and engaged in antisubmarine training.

On 10 March 1945 she was detached from the South Atlantic Forces and assigned to task group TG 23.2 at Miami, Florida. There she served as a school ship until 28 June, when she got underway for Norfolk.

On 18 August, after a brief overhaul, she returned to Miami, where she decommissioned on the 28th. Transferred to the Nationalist Chinese Government under the terms of lend lease the same day, she commissioned in that Navy as Yung Ning. The vessel was officially returned in accordance with the terms of the original loan, and then redelivered to the Republic of China under the Military Assistance Program, 7 February 1948. Magnet was struck from the Navy list 12 March 1948. She is believed to have been scrapped.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links