USS ''Barbican'' (ACM-5) was a in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. ''Barbican'' was later commissioned in U.S. Coast Guard as USCGC ''Ivy'' (WLB / WAGL-329). ''Barbican'' was constructed as the Army

Mine planter Mine planter and the earlier "torpedo planter" was a term used for mine warfare ships into the early days of World War I. In later terminology, particularly in the United States, a mine planter was a ship specifically designed to install controlle ...

USAMP '' Col. George Armistead'' (MP-3) by the Marietta Manufacturing Co. at

Point Pleasant, West Virginia Point Pleasant is a city in and the county seat of Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Kanawha River, Kanawha Rivers. The population was 4,101 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 censu ...

and delivered to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

in December 1942. The ship was acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

from the Army Coast Artillery at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, on 6 January 1945; renamed ''Barbican'' and designated an auxiliary

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

, ACM-5, on 19 January 1945; converted for naval service by the

Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River (South Carolina), Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and p ...

; and placed in commission there on 24 March 1945.

Service history

U.S. Navy

Following shakedown training out of

, between 31 March and 24 April 1945, ''Barbican'' arrived in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

late in the summer of 1945 too late to participate in the war against Japan. In fact, ''Barbican'' did not depart

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

and head for the western

until 17 August 1945, two days after the Japanese capitulation ended hostilities. On her way west, the auxiliary minelayer made one stop at

Midway Island Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory. The largest island is Sand Island, which has housi ...

before arriving at

Saipan Saipan () is the largest island and capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, an unincorporated Territories of the United States, territory of the United States in the western Pacific Ocean. According to 2020 estimates by the United States Cens ...

in the

Marianas The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly Volcano#Dormant and reactivated, dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean ...

on 20 September 1945. There, she reported for duty with the Commander, Minecraft, Pacific Fleet. For a little more than a month, she served as tender and

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

for a squadron of motor minesweepers ( YMS), performing those duties both at Saipan and at

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. Late in October 1945, the ship moved from Okinawa to

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a population density of 540 per ...

, where she took part in the postwar

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

. That assignment lasted until 24 February 1946, when she headed back to the United States reporting to the Commandant,

12th Naval District United States Naval Districts is a system created by the United States Navy to organize military facilities, numbered sequentially by geographic region, for the operational and administrative control of naval bases and shore commands in the Unit ...

, late in April 1946 for duty pending inactivation. ''Barbican'' was placed out of commission at San Francisco, on 12 June 1946 and was transferred simultaneously to the U.S. Coast Guard. Her name was struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

on 19 July 1946.

U.S. Coast Guard

The fourth tender named ''Ivy'', she was one of five Chimo-class U.S. Army mine-layers acquired by the Coast Guard and entered service with the Coast Guard in 1947. She was initially stationed at Miami, Florida, and was assigned to tend aids to navigation (ATON) and conduct search and rescue (SAR) and law enforcement (LE) operations when required. She also tended the Cape Flattery Light Station frequently. During her Coast Guard service ''Ivy'' frequently operated from Coast Guard Base Tongue Point

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a Port, port city in and the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the ...

for extended periods. She transferred to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

on 29 June 1951 where she remained home ported during the rest of her Coast Guard career. On 29 June 1951 she assisted M/V ''Alan Seeger'' and M/V ''Audrey'' following a collision. On 23 October 1952 she assisted the M/V ''Paul T. Seafarer'', and on 12 February 1954 she assisted F/V ''Western Fisherman''. On 27 March 1954 she dragged for a sunken fishing vessel off the lower

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

. On 1 August 1958 she grounded near

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

but sustained no damage and was re-floated. In August 1959 she served on a law enforcement patrol off

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

, Washington. On 15 January 1961 she assisted in the search and recovery attempt of F/V ''Mermaid'' off the

Columbia River Bar The Columbia Bar is a system of bars and shoals at the mouth of the Columbia River spanning the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington. It is one of the most dangerous bar crossings in the world, earning the nickname Graveyard of the Pacific. The ...

. During the end of February 1968 to 1 March 1968 ''Ivy'' waited out a storm at anchor in

Willapa Bay Willapa Bay () is a bay located on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state in the United States. The Long Beach Peninsula separates Willapa Bay from the greater expanse of the Pacific Ocean. With over of surface area Willapa Bay is the ...

, Washington. On 1 March 1968 she was called to assist the Japanese M/V ''Suwaharu Maru'' carrying a cargo of logs and the Liberian M/V ''Mandoil II ''carrying a cargo of

naptha Naphtha (, recorded as less common or nonstandard in all dictionaries: ) is a flammable liquid hydrocarbon mixture. Generally, it is a fraction of crude oil, but it can also be produced from natural-gas condensates, petroleum distillates, and ...

which had collided 340 miles from Columbia River bar off the Oregon coast. Due to heavy seas ''Ivy'' was underway to the scene for nearly 24 hours. In heavy seas, darkness and a snow storm ''Ivy'' rescued 68 crewmen from the Japanese vessel, which had jettisoned logs in an effort to stay afloat. Floating logs destroyed one of ''Ivy's'' lifeboats, however no crew lost were lost. The Liberian tanker of naphtha exploded and burned; the entire crew perished. The ''Ivy'' was relieved by USCGC ''Modoc'' (WATA-194) and transported the Japanese crew to

. Two merchant vessels also participated in the rescue: MV ''Kure Maru'' and MV ''Transoneida''. During her Coast Guard service ''Ivy'' frequently operated from Coast Guard Base Tongue Point for extended periods. After 2 years of Navy service and 24 years of Coast Guard service ''Ivy'' was decommissioned on 26 November 1969. The vessel was then acquired by

Foss Maritime Foss Maritime (formerly Foss Launch and Tug Company), is an American tugging company. The company was founded in 1889 by Thea Foss (1857–1927) and her husband Andrew Foss. The company is now the largest tug and towing concern on the west coas ...

and renamed as ''Agnes Foss'', the second ex-Army mine planter of the name ''Col. George Armistead'' to be operated by Foss as ''Agnes Foss''.

References

External links

*
Army Ships -- The Ghost Fleet – Coast Artillery Corps – Army Mine Planter Service

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbican (ACM-5) Chimo-class minelayers Ships built in Point Pleasant, West Virginia 1942 ships World War II mine warfare vessels of the United States Mine planters of the United States Army

Service history

U.S. Navy

U.S. Coast Guard

See also

References

External links