Second Pacific Deployment
On 1 December 1944, Ardent departed San Francisco, California, and headed for Hawaii. She reached Pearl Harbor on the 10th and underwent an intensive training period before sailing for the Marshall Islands on 27 January 1945 with Task Group (TG) 51.11, arriving on 5 February at Eniwetok. Two days later, Ardent sailed for Tinian, and reported for duty with TG 52.3 on the llth. On 13 February, the ship got underway, in company with USS Champion (AM-314), USS Devastator (AM-318), and USS Defense (AM-317), to participate in the Iwo Jima campaign.
She conducted minesweeping operations off that island during the day from 15 to 18 February, and each night, her group retired to screen USS Estes (AGC-12). During the sweeps, the ships came under intermittent fire from enemy shore batteries, but sustained no damage. On 19 February, Ardent took bomb-damaged USS Blessman (DE-69) in tow and proceeded to the Marianas as escort for a convoy of damaged LCIs.
Read more about this topic: USS Ardent (AM-340)
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