''Caracara'' (AMc-40), an placed in service 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 ...

for use during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The vessel was named after the caracara, a large South American

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively predation, hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and smaller birds). In addition to speed ...

Construction

''Caracara'' was laid down on 26 December 1940 and launched on 23 August 1941 by the Bristol Yacht Building Co., South Bristol, Maine.

Service

''Caracara'' was delivered to the Navy at the Boston Navy Yard on 3 December 1941 and placed in service on 30 December 1941. After training with Experimental Minesweeping Group, Mine Warfare School, the vessel was assigned to theto the 10th Naval District, Naval Operating Base (NOB) at

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

on 1 April 1942 for

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

. Those operations were interrupted with failures of the cable for the magnetic sweep. Local repairs were unsatisfactory with another break the day after repair. , the other minesweeper assigned to the area, also suffered failures. The Commander Inshore Patrol, Trinidad Sector, on 4 April 1942 requesting

Bureau of Ships The United States Navy's Bureau of Ships (BuShips) was established by Congress on 20 June 1940, by a law which consolidated the functions of the Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) and the Bureau of Engineering (BuEng). The new bureau was ...

provide adequate spares noted the two vessels were "the only two vessels available between the British and ourselves that are capable of actually doing a sweeping job in the

Gulf of Paria The Gulf of Paria ( ; ) is a shallow ( at its deepest) semi-enclosed inland sea located between the island of Trinidad and the east coast of Venezuela. It separates the two countries by as little as at its narrowest and at its widest points. T ...

." The ship was assigned to the Caribbean Sea Frontier 23 July 1942 through 21 April 1944 when again reporting to Commandant, Tenth Naval District. ''Caracara'' continued minesweeping operations until the end of the war in the Atlantic and Europe. ''Caracara'' was placed out of service 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 ...

28 December 1945 and stricken from the

Navy Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 21 January 1946. The vessel was sold through the U.S. Maritime Commission and delivered to purchaser Roland I. Styron, of Cash Corner, N.C. on 25 July 1947.

References

External links

uboat.net - Allied Warships - Accentor class Minesweepers

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caracara (AMc-40) Accentor-class minesweepers Ships built in South Bristol, Maine 1941 ships World War II minesweepers of the United States