Pirate II AM-275

Pirate II

(AM-275: dp. 850, 1. 184'6", b. 33', dr. 9'9", s. 15 k., cpl.
104; a. 1 3", cl. Admirable)

The second Pirate (AM-275) was laid down 1 July 1943 by Gulf Shipbuilding Co., Chiekasaw, Ala.; launched 16 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Clara L. Oliver, and commissioned 16 June 1944.

That summer, Pirate operated in and around Caseo Bay and Boston; conducted ASW exercises with Italian submarine Vertice and with CTG 23.9 in early August; and later in the month swept the channel from Boston to Provincetown. In December she transferred operations to Miami, where she was schoolship for student officers for the next 4 months.

Pirate got underway from Miami 4 April 1945 to transit the Panama Canal, stop at San Diego, and proceed to Pearl Harbor for duty. She departed Pearl Harbor and proceeded with MinDiv 32 via Eniwetok to Apra Harbor, Guam 7 June. As Allied forces made the final drive on Okinawa Pirate reported at Nakagusuku Bay 26 June. In September she was minesweeping in area "Arcadia", in and around Jinsen, Korea, and operated off the northern coast of Formosa in November.

Decommissioning at Bremerton, Wash.6 November 1946, the ship reported to ServPae in December 1947 for deployment in Japanese waters in a caretaker status, she retained this status, out of service in reserve for the next several years.

In July 1950, Pirate was with MinDiv 32, ServPac when hostilities in Korea called her back into active service. Recommissioning 14 August 1950 at Yokosuka, Japan, she departed Sasebo 8 September for duties off Pusan, Korea. On 12 October, she and Pledge were minesweeping 3 miles off the enemy-held island of Sin-Do when the ships hit mines. Sinking within 5 minutes, Pirate had 12 sailors missing and one dead.

Pirate received 4 battle stars for World War II service.