USS Prime (AM-279)

History
United States
Name	USS Prime (AM-279)
Builder	Gulf Shipbuilding Company
Laid down	15 September 1943
Launched	22 January 1944
Commissioned	12 September 1944
Decommissioned	29 May 1946
Fate	Sold to the Republic of China, 1946
Stricken	1 May 1973
History
Taiwan
Name	ROCS Yung Feng (MMC-50)
Acquired	1946
Fate	Unknown
General characteristics
Class and type	Admirable-class minesweeper
Displacement	650 tons; 945 tons (full load);
Length	184 ft 6 in (56.24 m)
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draft	9 ft 9 in (2.97 m)
Propulsion	2 × Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, 1,710 shp; National Supply Co. single reduction gear; 2 shafts;
Speed	14.8 knots (27.4 km/h)
Complement	104
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber gun DP; 1 × twin Bofors 40 mm guns; 6 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon; 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar; 4 × Depth charge projectors (K-guns); 2 × Depth charge racks;
Service record
Part of:	US Pacific Fleet (1945-1946)

USS Prime (AM-279) was laid down 15 September 1943 by Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, Alabama, launched 22 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. L. W. Thompson, and commissioned 12 September 1944.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations[edit]

Following shakedown off the east coast, USS Prime reported to Service Force Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, 1 December 1944. After duty off Bermuda and the east coast, she arrived at the Panama Canal Zone, and reported for duty to the U.S. Pacific Fleet 12 July 1945. In September, while at Okinawa, she was assigned to the Reserve Fleet. Following a change of assignment from the 19th to the U.S. 16th Fleet, she was marked expendable in March 1946. Demilitarized, she steamed to Shanghai, China.

End-of-war deactivation[edit]

Prime was decommissioned 29 May 1946 and sold to China at Shanghai, China as Yung Feng (MMC-50) (Republic of China Navy), decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register 1 May 1973. Fate unknown.

References[edit]

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

External links[edit]