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Caravan (AM-157)

1944-1983

A general word clasification.

(AM-157: dp. 630; l. 184'6"; b. 33'; dr. 10'; s. 15 k.; cpl. 104; a. 1 3"; cl. Admirable)

Caravan (AM-157) was launched 27 October 1942 by Willamette Iron and Steel Corp., Portland, Oreg., and commissioned at her building yard on 21 January 1944, Lt. Cecil E. Walden, D-V(G), USNR, in command.

Caravan stood out of San Francisco 25 March 1944, bound for Pearl Harbor, Majuro, and Eniwetok. The minesweeper arrived at Eniwetok 25 April to operate on patrol, lifeguard for aviators downed in carrier strikes, and convoy escort. Her escort duties took her throughout the Marianas, and in September she was based at Guam. Riding out a severe typhoon en route, Caravan sailed to Ulithi in October, to begin operations in the Palaus as well as the Marianas.

Caravan's effective support of fleet operations ended in May 1945, when she reported at Portland, Oregon, for overhaul. In July she arrived at Cold Bay, Alaska, to train a Russian crew, and on 16 August 1945, she was decommissioned and transferred to the Soviet Union under lend-lease. On 7 February 1955 she was reclassified MSF-157.

She remained in Soviet hands unti;l scrapped in 1960. Ultimtely, she wqs strciken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 January 1983.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

2 February 2022

Published: Wed Feb 02 20:00:20 EST 2022