(AM-380: displacement 890; length 221-2-; beam 32-2-; draft 11-; speed 18 knots; complement 105; armament 1 3-, 2 40mm., 2 depth charge tracks, 5 depth charge projectors; class Auk)
An American duck.
Ruddy (AM-380) was laid down on 24 February 1944 by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, Ala.; launched 29 October 1944; sponsored by Mrs. John Zeralis; and commissioned 28 April 1945, Lt. Comdr. William H. Rothwell II, USNR, in command.
After commissioning, Ruddy completed shakedown in Chesapeake Bay and on 27 July 1945 departed Little Creek, Va., for Okinawa. Arriving at Buckner Bay on 27 September, she escorted Millicoma (AO-73) to Sasebo, Japan, destroying two Japanese mines with rifle fire en route. During October, she returned to the Ryukyus; but, on the 26th, was back off Sasebo to commence sweeping operations in the "Klondike" area off that port. Detached on 8 November, she provided courier service; supervised YMS operations; and carried freight between Okinawa and Sasebo until the new year. In January 1946, she again conducted minesweeping operations.
On 17 February, Ruddy sailed for the Marshalls. At Bikini from 7 to 24 March, she supervised buoy-laying activities in preparation for Operation "Crossroads," the July 1946 atomic tests; then continued on to the United States. Reaching San Pedro on 23 April, the minesweeper was decommissioned at San Diego on 15 January 1947 and berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet.
Recommissioned on 12 March 1952, Ruddy joined Mine Division 72 and, after 11 months of mine warfare exercises and fleet amphibious operations, sailed from Long Beach in February 1953 for the Korean combat zone. She arrived off Wonsan, North Korea, on 15 March and began operations as a unit of the U.N. Blockade and Escort Force. On the 16th, she transported prisoners of war to Yo Do, then returned to Wonsan, whence, for 6 weeks, she conducted inshore patrols. Three weeks of voyage repairs at Yokosuka followed. She then steamed for Inchon and patrol duty along the peninsula's western coast. In mid-July, Ruddy returned to Japan. Fourteen days later, the truce went into effect; and, at the end of the month, the minesweeper was at Niigata, Japan, to participate in the Perry Expedition Centennial celebration. In mid-August, she returned to Korea for patrol duty off Cheju Do; and, on 4 September, she departed Sasebo for California, arriving at Long Beach on the 27th.
For the next 16 months, Ruddy engaged in type training and tactics along the California coast. On 20 January 1955, she headed west for another tour in the Far East. Eighteen days later, while still in transit, she was redesignated MSF-380.
MSF-380 arrived at Sasebo on the 16th of February and, until 10 August, ranged from Japan to the Philippines in operations with the 7th Fleet. She returned to California on 5 September and resumed local operations. With the new year, 1956, she began inactivation. Decommissioned at San Diego on 31 August 1956, Ruddy was berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet until 1 November 1960 when she transferred, under the terms of the military assistance program, to the government of Peru. The minesweeper served as Galvez in the Peruvian Navy until 1975 when she was transferred to the Peruvian Coast Guard. The minesweeper was retired in 1981.
Ruddy (AM-380) earned one battle star for post-World War II minesweeping operations and two for her service during the Korean War.
21 October 2005
