Arch (AM-144)
1943-1983
A general word classification.
(AM-144: displacement 650; 1ength 184'6"; beam 33'0"; draft 9'9"; speed 14.8 knots; complement 104; armament 2 3-inch, 8 20 millimeter, 2 7.62 millimeter machine guns, one depth charge projector (Hedgehog), 2 depth charge tracks; class Admirable)
Arch (AM-144) was laid down on 18 October 1942 at Tampa, Fla., by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 7 December 1942; sponsored by Mrs. A. M. Kearny; and completed on 6 September 1943. Transferred to the USSR under Lend Lease, she served the Soviet Navy as T [for Tralshik, minesweeper)-117.
Never returned to the United States, T-117 was apparently reclassified in Soviet service, first as a torpedo carrier then as a transport. Arch, meanwhile, was carried on the U.S. Navy List, reclassified as a fleet minesweeper (steel hull) MSF-44 after 7 February 1955. Ultimately, her name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 January 1983.
Raymond A. Mann
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
20 December 2023
