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Naval History and Heritage Command

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Notable I (AM-267)

1943-1946

A general word classification.

I

(AM-267: displacement 945; length 184'6"; beam 33'; draft 9'9"; speed 14.8 knots; complement 104; armament 1 3-inch, 4 40 millimeter, 6 20 millimeter, 1 depth charge projector (Hedgehog), 6 depth charge projectors, 2 depth charge tracks; class Admirable)

The first Notable (AM-267) was laid down on 17 September 1942 at Chickasaw, Alabama, by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp; launched on 12 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. John F. Brown; and commissioned on 24 December 1943, the day before Christmas, Lt. Ralph B. Williams, D-V(S), USNR, in command.

Following a brief shakedown cruise by way of New Orleans, La., to Little Creek, Va., and service providing minecraft training for precommissioning crews, Notable departed Norfolk, Va., on 3 May 1944 for Argentia, Newfoundland, where she embarked U.S. Coast Guard meteorologists and sailed on 22 June for Davis Strait. There, the minesweeper took up station as a weather patrol ship, providing North Atlantic convoys with vital weather data for their crossings. On 27 October, she was ordered to Boston and then Norfolk for minesweeping training and overhaul.

Notable departed the Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Va., on 21 February 1945 for the Pacific, sailing via Bermuda, the Panama Canal, and San Diego, Calif., arriving at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 5 April. After more training, the minesweeper put out from Pearl on 28 April bound for the Western Pacific; and on 24 May, joined Task Unit (TU) 94.19.18 for Okinawa. From 30 May to 4 July 1945, the little ship operated in and around Kerama Retto on antiaircraft patrols, and then began continuous duty with minesweepers in the East China Sea, sweeping over 100 contact mines in a period of two months and then engaging in occupation duty following the surrender of Japan on 2 September.

Notable continued sweeping and patrol missions in the Western Pacific until she was decommissioned on 29 May 1946 and was turned over to the Foreign Liquidation Commission at Shanghai, China, where she was simultaneously transferred to the Chinese Maritime Custom Fleet.

Notable received three battle stars for her World War II service; the first for her participation in the assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto ((30 May--30 June 1945); the second for her participation in Third Fleet operations against Japan (5-31 July 1945), and the third for her participation in mine sweeping operations in the Pacific (16-24 August 1945; 7 September-18 October 1945; and 6-9 November 1945). 

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

9 May 2022

Published: Sun May 08 18:34:48 EDT 2022