USS Broadbill (AM-58)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Broadbill.

USS Broadbill (AM-58)
Career
Name:	USS Broadbill
Builder:	Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan
Laid down:	1942
Launched:	21 May 1942
Commissioned:	21 July 1943
Decommissioned:	3 June 1946
Recommissioned:	19 March 1952
Decommissioned:	24 January 1954
Reclassified:	MSF-58, 7 February 1965
Struck:	1 July 1972
Honours and awards:	2 battle stars (World War II)
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 1 December 1973
General characteristics
Class & type:	Auk-class minesweeper
Displacement:	890 long tons (904 t)
Length:	221 ft 3 in (67.44 m)
Beam:	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft:	10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement:	100 officers and enlisted
Armament:	• 1 × 3"/50 caliber gun • 2 × 40 mm guns • 2 × 20 mm guns • 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Broadbill (AM-58), was an Auk-class minesweeper of the United States Navy, named after the Broadbill, a family of small passerine bird species found in tropical southeast Asia and Africa. Broadbill was launched on 21 May 1942 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, sponsored by Mrs. A. Loring Swasey, wife of Captain Swasey. She was commissioned on 13 October 1942, with Lieutenant Commander J. B. Cleland, Jr., in command.

Service history

1942–1946

After commissioning, Broadbill reported at Boston, Massachusetts to the Commander, Service Force, Atlantic Fleet.

Until April 1944, she escorted convoys between east coast and Gulf coast ports, and made two voyages to the Caribbean. On 11 April 1944, she got underway for England where she conducted numerous practice sweeps in preparation for the invasion of Normandy.

On 5 June 1944 Broadbill, as a unit of Mine Squadron 7, in company with 10 other minesweepers, cleared the approach channel to Utah Beach for fire support ships, and on 6 June, commenced sweeping the actual support area. On 25 June, she helped clear fire support areas off Cherbourg. Operations were continued off England and France until August.

She then proceeded to Naples, via Oran, Algeria, and conducted sweeping operations in the Ligurian Sea, Strait of Bonifacio, and around Sardinia and Corsica. Completing this assignment, Mine Squadron 7 arrived at Cavalaire Bay in southern France on 23 August 1944 to clear French harbors and approaches during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France. On 28 May 1945, Broadbill, in company with Mine Division 21, departed for Norfolk, Virginia, where she underwent repairs until 30 August 1945.

On 17 September 1945, in company with Service Squadron 5, Broadbill got underway for San Pedro, California. She was subsequently ordered to Astoria, Oregon, arriving on 7 December for pre-inactivation overhaul. Broadbill went out of commission in reserve at San Diego on 3 June 1946.

1952–1954

Recommissioned on 19 March 1952, Broadbill operated off the California coast until 27 June 1952. She then sailed to Charleston, South Carolina, arriving there on 15 July. During the remainder of 1952, she operated out of Charleston and conducted one Caribbean training cruise.

In January 1953, she proceeded to the Mediterranean for a cruise with the 6th Fleet, returning to Charleston on 21 May 1953. She conducted routine operations off the Atlantic coast until August, when she reported for inactivation overhaul. Broadbill was placed out of commission in reserve on 25 January 1954, berthed at Orange, Texas. She was reclassified MSF-58 on 7 February 1955.

Broadbill was struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1972, and disposed of by Navy sale on 1 December 1973.

References

• 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 USS Broadbill (AM-58/MSF-58) at NavSource Naval History