 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSFinch |
| Builder | Standard Shipbuilding Co., New York |
| Launched | 30 March 1918 |
| Commissioned | 10 September 1918, as Minesweeper No.9 |
| Reclassified | AM-9, 17 July 1920 |
| Stricken | 8 May 1942 |
| Honours & awards | 1battle star (World War II) |
| Fate | damaged by Japanese bomb, 10 April 1942 |
| Notes | salvaged by Japanese |
| History | |
 Japan | |
| Name | PB-103 |
| Fate | Sunk by United States bombs, 12 January 1945 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Lapwing-classminesweeper |
| Displacement | 950 long tons (965 t) |
| Length | 187 ft 10 in (57.25 m) |
| Beam | 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m) |
| Draft | 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m) |
| Speed | 14knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement | 78 |
| Armament | 2 ×3 in (76 mm) guns |
USSFinch (AM-9) was aLapwing-classminesweeper acquired by theU.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.Finch was named for thefinch, and is strictly speaking the only U.S. vessel named for such.
Finch was launched 30 March 1918 byStandard Shipbuilding Co., New York; sponsored by Mrs. F. G. Peabody; and commissioned 10 September 1918.
After training and operations with asubmarine bell,Finch sailed from New York 9 August 1919 forKirkwall,Orkney Islands, Scotland. Here she based for two months of duty removing the vast number of mines laid in theNorth Sea duringWorld War I.Finch returned toCharleston on 29 November 1920, and on 3 January 1920 sailed forSan Pedro, California, where from 1 March to 29 August she was in reduced commission.
Modernized, she sailed from San Francisco on 20 August 1921 for duty with theAsiatic Fleet, and for the next 20 years, served in thePhilippines in the winter and out of the China base atChefoo in the summer. Her duties were varied, and included towing and salvage work, as well as participation in theYangtze River Patrol. She joined in fleet exercises, and as war tension heightened, played a part in protecting American citizens and interests in the Far East.
In 1937, Finch was commanded briefly by LCDR (later VADM, permanent rank)Hyman G. Rickover, future commander ofNaval Reactors and the longest-serving active duty U.S. Naval officer.[1] Rickover commandedFinch from 17 July to 5 October 1937 and it was the only command at sea Rickover ever held. The ship was primarily operating at Shanghai, China, to protect American interests during theBattle of Shanghai.
In 1941, she began work in intensive development exercises withsubmarine and mine groups in thePhilippines, and as war came closer, spent December on patrol in theTaiwan Straits. According to an account given by Yeoman 3C A. Glenn Pratt, a crewmember aboard theFinch, she was assigned, along with theHeron, a sister vessel with a diving bell, to escort two US Navy river gunboats back to Manila Harbor from their station in China since the Japanese had sunk one such vessel, thePanay, in 1937. During the return leg of this mission, the vessels were temporarily surrounded by Japanese naval vessels headed toward the Philippines. The gunboats scouted the Japanese column, then pulled ahead to report the naval activity to Washington, while theFinch andHeron stayed behind, eventually being left by the Japanese as well. The two vessels returned to Manila Bay on 6 December 1941.
As the Japanese began aerial bombardment of bases in the Philippines, theFinch continued her task of sweeping for mines to keep the channel into the harbor open for incoming shipping. Yeoman Pratt reported that machine gunners on board theFinch downed one Japanese aircraft during an air raid, and though the Captain congratulated them, he asked them not to repeat the feat so that they would not become a special target and be able to continue mine sweeping operations. After running out of fuel in March,Finch was anchored in shallow water and her crew taken to shore defense positions.
On 9 April 1942, while moored at the eastern point ofCorregidor,Finch was damaged by the near miss of a Japanese bomb, her seams opening and fragments of the bomb piercing her hull. The entire crew landed safely, andFinch was abandoned to sink the next day, 10 April 1942.
Many of theFinch's crew served during the siege of Corregidor, though her captain was evacuated to Australia via submarine. The survivors of Corregidor were the first prisoners to arrive atCabanatuan prison camp where they endured harsh conditions as described byFinch survivor Vernon G. LaHeist in his memoir.[2] Many were later removed to camps in Japan, Taiwan, or China. Yeoman Pratt, held in three camps in Taiwan, was evacuated aboard the destroyer escortUSSFinch, and was startled at seeing the name, thinking it had been named for his old vessel, but that ship was named in honor of Lt.(j.g.)Joseph W. Finch, who died aboard theUSSLaffey during the battle ofGuadalcanal.
According to Japanese records[3] theFinch was salvaged and designated IJN Patrol Boat 103 in April 1943. The PB 103 served as a convoy escort in the Philippines and Indochina. On 12 January 1945, off Cape Padaran in theSouth China Sea (11°10'N, 108°55'E),Finch was attacked and sunk by aircraft from theUSS Lexington (CV-16),USS Hancock (CV-19) andUSS Hornet (CV-12) which were part of Vice AdmiralJohn S. McCain, Sr.'s Task Force 38 that hadentered the South China Sea to raid Japanese shipping.[4]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
