LB2016.15.212

LB2016.15.212

The minesweeper USS CARACARA (AMc-40) is seen here tied up at a wharf in South Bristol, Maine where she was built. Namesake Bird: Caracara Builder Bristol Yacht Building Co. (Harvey Gamage Shipyard) Laid down 26 December 1940 Launched 23 August 1941 In service 30 December 1941 Out of service 28 December 1945 Stricken 21 January 1946 Fate Sold 25 July 1947 to Roland I. Styron, of Cash Corner, N.C. General characteristics Class and type Accentor-class minesweeper Displacement 173 long tons Length 97 ft 1 in Beam 21 ft 6 in Draft 9 ft Propulsion Diesels, 2 shafts Speed 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) Complement 17 Armament 4 × .50 cal. machine guns Construction Caracara was laid down on 26 December 1940 and launched on 23 August 1941 by the Bristol Yacht Building Co., South Bristol, Maine. Service Caracara was delivered to the Navy at the Boston Navy Yard on 3 December 1941 and placed in service on 30 December 1941. After training with Experimental Minesweeping Group, Mine Warfare School, the vessel was assigned to the 10th Naval District, Naval Operating Base (NOB) at Trinidad on 1 April 1942 for minesweeping. Those operations were interrupted with failures of the cable for the magnetic sweep. Local repairs were unsatisfactory with another break the day after repair. CHACHALACA (AMc-41), the other minesweeper assigned to the area, also suffered failures. The Commander Inshore Patrol, Trinidad Sector, on 4 April 1942 requesting Bureau of Ships provide adequate spares noted the two vessels were "the only two vessels available between the British and ourselves that are capable of actually doing a sweeping job in the Gulf of Paria." The ship was assigned to the Caribbean Sea Frontier 23 July 1942 through 21 April 1944 when again reporting to Commandant, Tenth Naval District. Caracara continued minesweeping operations until the end of the war in the Atlantic and Europe. CARACARA was placed out of service at Charleston, South Carolina 28 December 1945 and stricken from the Navy Register on 21 January 1946. The vessel was sold through the U.S. Maritime Commission and delivered to purchaser Roland I. Styron, of Cash Corner, N.C. on 25 July 1947. Wikipedia contributors, "USS Caracara (AMc-40)," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Caracara_(AMc-40)&oldid=1092425764 (accessed August 30, 2022).