Waxbill I (AMc-15)
1940-1944
A bird of the weaverbird family that has a bill with a waxy appearance; many, such as the Java sparrow, the amadavat, and the strawberry finch, are “cage” birds.
I
(AMc-15: displacement 195; length 83'2"; beam 20'11"; draft 5'0"; depth of hold 10'0"; speed 10.0 knots; complement 11; armament 1 .30-caliber machine gun, 4 rifles)
Leslie J. Fulton, a wooden-hulled purse seiner built in 1936 at Antioch, Calif., by F. L. Fulton, was purchased by the Navy on 19 November 1940 for conversion to a coastal minesweeper.
Taken over on that day at Yerba Buena, San Francisco, Calif., the ship was placed in commission as AMc-15 on 26 November 1940, Ens. Edward L. Holtz, D-V(G), USNR, in command. The name Waxbill first appears as the ship’s name the following day.
Not yet fully equipped or manned, Waxbill operated in the Twelfth Naval District’s waters, training naval reservists through the end of 1940. Attached to the inshore patrol forces of the district as of 1 January 1941, Waxbill entered the General Engineering & Dry Dock Co. yard at Alameda, Calif., on 20 January, for conversion to a coastal minesweeper (AMc). While at Alameda, the ship was decommissioned and simultaneously placed in service on 19 February 1941.
Waxbill operated locally in the Twelfth Naval District attached, successively, to Patrol Force, Local Defense Forces and the Mine Force for the district until she was assigned to the Western Sea Frontier Force in August 1942. Reassigned to local defense forces of the district on 12 March 1943, she was eventually taken out of service on 12 September 1944 and was stricken from the Navy Register on 14 October 1944.
Transferred to the Maritime Commission’s War Shipping Administration on 6 January 1945, the erstwhile minecraft was simultaneously sold to F. L. Fulton, her original owner.
Robert J. Cressman
Updated, 16 August 2022
