USS ''Bunting'' (AMc-7) was a coastal

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

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 ...

. She was named after the bunting, a seed-eating bird intermediate in size between

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...

s and

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches generally have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where the ...

es.

Acquisition and modification

SS ''Vagabond'', a wooden-hulled

purse seiner A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to fishing, catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial ...

built in 1935 at

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

, by the Martinac Shipbuilding Co., was acquired by the Navy from Marko Bokich, et al., on 22 October 1940. She was designated AMc-7 shortly thereafter; renamed USS ''Bunting'' on 6 November 1940; converted to a coastal minesweeper by the Campbell Machine Company at

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California. She was placed in service at the Destroyer Base, San Diego, on 6 June 1941.

Assigned to San Francisco Bay duties

Assigned to the 12th Naval District, ''Bunting'' reported to her assigned base at the Section Headquarters,

Treasure Island ''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure a ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California, on 19 June and spent the remainder of the year 1941 and the first five months of 1942 engaged in training officers, minesweeping, patrolling

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay (Chochenyo language, Chochenyo: 'ommu) is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, California, San ...

, and participating in local Army and Navy exercises.

Collision and sinking

While patrolling from Line Mile Rock to Point Diablo, ''Bunting'' collided with the patrol craft on 3 June 1942 and sank. 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 24 June 1942.

References

External links

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Casualties, Navy and Coast Guard Ships, WW II

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunting (AMc-7) Minesweepers of the United States Navy Ships built in Tacoma, Washington 1935 ships World War II minesweepers of the United States World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Shipwrecks of the California coast Ships sunk in collisions Maritime incidents in June 1942