World War II Pacific Operations
On 19 February 1942 she departed Tutuila for similar duty in the Fijis and arrived Viti Levu on 23 February. Returning to Samoa on 12 April, she was reclassified AT-135 on 1 June; she then sailed to Wallis Island on 28 July for a month of plane guard and rescue duty. With a lighter in tow she departed Suva, Fiji, 12 September for Noumea, New Caledonia. Arriving 18 September, she served under the command of the Port Director until she departed for Hawaii on 8 October.
Arriving Pearl Harbor on 30 October, Kingfisher served as a tug and torpedo recovery ship until 23 September when she sailed for the Ellice Islands. She reached Funafuti on 5 October and undertook towing duty between the Ellice and Phoenix Islands. On 8 December she sailed for the Gilbert Islands, arriving Tarawa Atoll on 13 December. Though subjected to intermittent enemy bombing attacks, Kingfisher towed anti-submarine nets and laid telephone cables in Betio Harbor before departing 27 December for Funafuti.
From 30 December to 15 April she continued towing, station ship, and harbor operations in the Ellice, Gilbert, and Marshall Islands; then she departed Kwajalein 16 April for Pearl Harbor, arriving 29 April. Reclassified ATO-135 on 15 May, Kingfisher departed 19 September for further towing operations in the South Pacific. Towing runs sent her to Palmyra, Ellice, Solomon, Admiralty, and Marshall Islands before she returned to Pearl Harbor on 14 November.
Read more about this topic: USS Kingfisher (AM-25)
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