(AMc-52: displacement 263; length 98-5-; beam 23-7-; draft 10-9-; speed 10 knots; complement 17; armament 2 machine guns; class Accentor)
A bird. More precisely, "Any of various Old World birds of the family Coraciidae, having bright blue wings, stocky bodies, and hooked bills. They are noted for their aggressiveness and their habit of rolling and twisting in flight, especially during the breeding season."
Roller (AMc-52) was laid down 27 December 1940 at the Snow Shipyards, Rockland, Maine; launched 14 May 1941; sponsored by Miss Linda Ann Dean; and placed in service 12 August 1941, Lt. (jg) H. E. Ferrill, USNR, in charge.
After fitting at Boston and training at Yorktown, the wooden hulled coastal minesweeper Roller got underway for duty in the 4th Naval District, headquartered at Philadelphia, 18 September 1941. Equipped with magnetic and "O" type sweep gear, she operated off the busy Delaware and New Jersey coasts during all but the final weeks of World War II. Transferred in the spring of 1945, she departed Cape May 25 April and steamed to Solomons Island, Md., where she conducted operations for the Naval Mine Warfare Test Station until placed out of service 18 April 1946. Roller, struck from the Navy list 1 May 1946, was transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 27 May 1947 and subsequently sold to Hughes Bros., Inc., of New York.
20 October 2005
