USS ''Refresh'' (AM-287) was an

Admirable-class The ''Admirable'' class was one of the largest and most successful classes of minesweepers ordered by the United States Navy during World War II. Typically, minesweepers detected and removed naval mines before the rest of the fleet arrived, the ...

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 ...

built for the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. She was built to clear minefields in offshore waters, and served the Navy in the

Pacific Ocean 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 definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. Post-war, her crew returned home with two

battle stars A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

to their credit. The ship itself was given to the Nationalist Chinese Navy.

Career

''Refresh'', a minesweeper, was laid down 22 September 1943 by the

General Engineering & Dry Dock Company General Engineering & Dry Dock Company was a shipbuilding and ship repair company in Alameda, California that was active from the 1920s through the 1940s. The company built ships for the Southern Pacific Railroad and the United States Coast Gua ...

, of

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for " tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located on Alameda Island, but also spans Bay Farm Island and Coast Guard Island, as we ...

, launched 12 April 1944, sponsored by Miss Muriel Maddox of

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

; and, commissioned 10 April 1945. Following a Pacific coast shakedown out of

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: "St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

, ''Refresh'' reported to Commander in Chief, Pacific for duty 9 June 1945. After a call at

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 ...

, she departed 1 July for

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

via

Eniwetok Enewetak Atoll (; also spelled Eniwetok Atoll or sometimes Eniewetok; mh, Ānewetak, , or , ; known to the Japanese as Brown Atoll or Brown Island; ja, ブラウン環礁) is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean and with ...

and

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic ce ...

. Arriving

Buckner Bay is a bay on the southern coast of Okinawa Island on the Pacific Ocean in Japan. The bay covers and ranges between to deep. The bay is surrounded by the municipalities of Uruma, Kitanakagusuku, Nakagusuku, Nishihara, Yonabaru, Nanjō, all i ...

31 July, she joined Commander, Mine Squadron 15 and began minesweeping operations in the

area 13 August. The last week of August she swept the approaches to Jinsen, Korea, and operated in the

Yellow Sea The Yellow Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula, and can be considered the northwestern part of the East China Sea. It is one of four seas named after common colour term ...

through 7 September. During the remainder of September, ''Refresh'' assisted task group TG 52.3 in minesweeping operations in the East China Sea approaches to

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in th ...

and

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

, Japan, and in the Goto Archipelago, primarily in the area of Fukse, southwest of Kyūshū. Arriving Sasebo 1 October, ''Refresh'' was assigned several hydrographic missions, conducting soundings in shoal waters southwest of

Kagoshima , abbreviated to , is the capital city of Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. Located at the southwestern tip of the island of Kyushu, Kagoshima is the largest city in the prefecture by some margin. It has been nicknamed the "Naples of the Eastern wor ...

, Kyūshū, Japan. After upkeep in Sasebo, she continued to operate in Japanese waters through the new year. Calling at

8–26 March 1946, ''Refresh'' then proceeded to

, arriving 4 April. Designated for transfer to the Chinese Navy 29 April 1946, she sailed for

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Sub ...

Philippine Islands The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

17 September, decommissioned there 9 November 1946, was delivered to the Chinese 30 June 1948, and struck from the

Navy list A Navy Directory, formerly the 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 autho ...

13 July 1948. She served in the Navy of the Republic of China as ''Yung Chang'' (AM 51). On 13 November 1965 she was damaged by shelling by People's Liberation Army Navy

patrol ship A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

s and then was

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

ed by the motor torpedo boat . She was then beached on Magong Island to prevent her from sinking. ''Refresh'' received two

for World War II service.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Refresh (Am-287) Admirable-class minesweepers Ships built in Alameda, California 1944 ships World War II minesweepers of the United States Admirable-class minesweepers of the Republic of China Navy Maritime incidents in 1965