USS Triumph (AM-323) - World War II Pacific Operations

World War II Pacific Operations

Following outfitting at Seattle, Washington, and shakedown training along the California coast, Triumph stood out of San Francisco, California, on 1 May as a unit in the escort of an Oahu-bound convoy. She arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 10th and, after a five-day layover, joined the screen of a convoy bound for the Marshall Islands. She entered the lagoon at Majuro on 25 May; two days later, headed back to Hawaii with 24 passengers embarked; and reached Pearl Harbor on 2 June. She got underway again late in the month to escort another convoy to the Marshalls. She reentered Pearl Harbor on 16 July and prepared for her first deployment in the combat zone.

On 12 August, Triumph stood out of Pearl Harbor with a convoy bound initially for the Solomon Islands. The minesweeper arrived at Florida Island near Guadalcanal on 24 August and conducted minesweeping rehearsals in the Russell Islands to prepare for the invasion of the Palaus. On 8 September, she departed Guadalcanal with Task Group (TG) 32.4, the transport screen for the Palau Islands invasion force. Triumph reached Kossol Passage at dawn on 15 September and began sweeping mines from the prospective anchorage there.