USS Auk (AM-38) - An Uncertain Disposition

An Uncertain Disposition

Exactly what happened next is not clear. One source indicates that the ship was accepted by the Maritime Commission at Port Nordland, Washington, and delivered to her purchaser, J. W. Rumsey, on 9 June 1947. Another source, however, gives 9 June 1947 date, but lists the ship as sold to the government of Venezuela. In any event, Felipe Larrazabal (R-11), ex-Discoverer, ex-Auk, appeared in contemporary naval publications into the 1960s. Eventually decommissioned around 1962, the erstwhile minecraft was reportedly still afloat in a back channel, in a "non-operable condition" as late as 1968. Her ultimate disposition, however, is not known.