Bond (AM-152) was laid down on 11 April 1942 at Portland, Oreg., by the Willamette Iron & Steel Corp.; launched on 21 October 1942; and commissioned on 30 August 1943, Lt. Cober L. Grabenhorst, USNR, in command.
Following shakedown training, the minesweeper engaged in patrols out of San Pedro, Calif., from 2 October to 20 November. On the latter day, she got underway for the Hawaiian Islands and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 30th. The minesweeper remained there until 7 December when she shaped a course for Alaskan waters. She arrived at Adak, Alaska, on 13 December and began patrols and escort duty. Over the next six months, her assignment took her to Attu, Kiska, Dutch Harbor, and Amchitka as well as Adak. The ship departed Dutch Harbor for San Francisco early in the summer of 1944. Following repairs at San Francisco, Bond put to sea on 8 August, bound for the Mariana Islands. She made stops at Pearl Harbor and at Eniwetok Atoll before arriving at Saipan on 2 September. For the next seven months, Bond patrolled in the vicinity of Saipan and escorted convoys between Saipan, Ulithi, Guam, and Eniwetok. The warship left Saipan on 25 April 1945 and, after steaming via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor, arrived at Portland, Oreg., on 22 May.
Following repairs, both at Portland and at Seattle, Wash., the minesweeper moved north to Cold Bay, Alaska, where she was decommissioned on 17 August 1945 and was transferred to the Soviet Union under a lend lease agreement. Commissioned in the Soviet Navy, she was retained by the Russians indefinitely. The U.S. Navy carried her on its Navy list for almost 40 years, even redesignating her MSF-152 on 7 February 1955. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 January 1983.
Raymond A. Mann
9 January 2006
