USS Bullfinch (AM-66)

History
United States
Name	USS Bullfinch
Builder	Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Laid down	22 May 1937, as MV Villanova
Launched	21 October 1937
Acquired	by purchase, 6 August 1940
Commissioned	22 October 1940
Decommissioned	15 September 1944
Stricken	23 September 1944
Fate	Transferred to War Shipping Administration for disposal, 28 August 1945
General characteristics
Class and type	Bullfinch-class minesweeper
Displacement	425 long tons (432 t)
Length	136 ft 4 in (41.55 m)
Beam	24 ft (7.3 m)
Draft	11 ft (3.4 m) full
Propulsion	1 × 700 hp (522 kW) Fairbanks-Morse diesel engine, 1 shaft
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	Unknown
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber gun; 2 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns;

USS Bullfinch (AM-66) was a Bullfinch-class minesweeper of the United States Navy during World War II.

She was laid down as the MV Villanova on 22 May 1937 by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, for F. J. O'Hara and Sons, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts. She was the last trawler built at Bath Iron Works for a United States owner). Launched on 21 October 1937, and delivered on 1 November 1937, she was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 6 August 1940. Villanova was renamed Bullfinch on 14 August 1940, and commissioned in ordinary, on 16 August 1940. She then commenced conversion to a minesweeper at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia. She was placed in full commission as USS Bullfinch (AM-66), on 22 October 1940. Her conversion was completed on 22 April 1941.

Service history

World War II, 1941–1944

Bullfinch was assigned to special duty with the Mine Warfare School at Yorktown, Virginia. She spent her entire career operating under the auspices of the Commandant, 5th Naval District. Except for one cruise up Chesapeake Bay to visit Baltimore, Maryland, the minesweeper restricted her operations to the waters around Norfolk and Yorktown. She continued minesweeping and mine warfare training duties until decommissioned at Yorktown on 15 September 1944.

Decommissioning

Bullfinch's name was struck from the Navy List on 23 September 1944. Apparently, the former minesweeper was berthed somewhere in the Norfolk-Yorktown area for about 11 months. On 28 August 1945, she was transferred to the Maritime Commission's War Shipping Administration at Little Creek, Virginia, for disposal.

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 Bullfinch at NavSource Naval History
Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945 Minecraft