World War II North Atlantic Operations
The new coastal minesweeper completed fitting out at Boston Naval Shipyard; then got underway on 19 October 1941. She arrived at Yorktown, Virginia, on the 21st for a period of training in mine warfare. In October, the wooden-hulled coastal minesweeper arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, and, soon thereafter, headed southward. Early in November, she reported for duty to the Commandant, 7th Naval District.
On 19 February 1942, a German submarine torpedoed and sank SS Pan Massachusetts, the first American ship lost to enemy action in the waters of the Gulf Sea Frontier. In the summer of 1942, as German submarines took their grim toll of merchant shipping, Turaco pursued her duties. German submarines laid minefields which were discovered by patrolling American vessels - often enough, only after American ships had been damaged or lost. The small coastal minesweepers joined the larger sweepers (AM's) in clearing these fields on the Eastern Sea Frontier and Gulf Sea Frontier.
As the war wore on, Turaco continued her duties with the 6th Naval District and the 7th Naval District. Increased availability of ships and aircraft, improved understanding of antisubmarine warfare, and greater organizational efficiency all contributed to decreasing merchant ship losses on the Gulf Sea Frontier.
Read more about this topic: USS Turaco (AMc-55)
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