Liberator II (AMc-87)
1942-1945
The first Liberator retained the name she carried at the time of her acquisition, the second Liberator (AMc-87) was named for a general word classification.
II
(AMc-87: displacement 195; length 97'1"; beam 22'; draft 9'; speed 10 knots; armament 2 .50 caliber machine guns, 2 .30 caliber machine guns; class Accentor)
The second Liberator (AMc-87) was laid down on 5 May 1941 at Antioch, Calif., by F. L. Fulton [Boat] Works; launched on 6 September 1941 and sponsored by Miss Pay Hill. Although originally earmarked for service in the Fifteenth Naval District, then the Fourteenth, Liberator was placed in service at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., on 22 February 1942, Lt. (j.g.) James. W. Dawnes in command, for service in the Thirteenth Naval District.
The wooden-hulled Liberator, equipped to sweep magnetic, acoustic, or moored mines, operated out of Puget Sound, assigned to the Northwest Sea Frontier from 8 June 1943, until she sailed for Alaska, assigned to the Alaskan Sea Frontier on 12 April 1944. Reassigned to the Thirteenth Naval District on 5 September 1944, the ship underwent a bad fire on 14 November 1944.
Consequently reclassified from a coastal minesweeper to a miscellaneous auxiliary, IX-202, on 20 December 1944, Liberator was used as a general utility vessel. Deemed unfit for naval service, the ship was placed out of service on 3 May 1945 and berthed at the U.S. Coast Guard Station, Bellevue, Washington, pending her disposition.
Stricken from the Navy Register on 19 May 1945, the former coastal minesweeper and auxiliary vessel was turned over to the War Shipping Administration on 2 July 1946 for disposal.
Robert J. Cressman
22 February 2016
