USS Constant (AM-86)
| Career (United States) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Constant |
| Builder: | Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon |
| Laid down: | 21 February 1942 |
| Launched: | 9 May 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 21 September 1942 |
| Renamed: | USS PC-1590, 1 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 19 June 1946 |
| Recommissioned: | 20 March 1951 |
| Decommissioned: | 22 October 1954 |
| Fate: | Sunk as a target ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Adroit-class minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 275 long tons (279 t) |
| Length: | 173 ft 8 in (52.93 m) |
| Beam: | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Draft: | 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 1,770 bhp (1,320 kW) Cooper Bessemer GNB8 diesel engines (Serial No. 1978 & 1979) 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 65 |
| Armament: | • 1 × 3"/50 caliber gun • 1 × 40 mm gun |
USS Constant (AM-86) was an Adroit-class minesweeper of the United States Navy. Laid down on 21 February 1942 by the Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon, and launched on 9 May 1942, the ship was commissioned on 21 September 1942.
World War II Pacific Theatre operations
From 20 December 1942 to 4 March 1943 Constant escorted convoys between San Francisco, California, and Pearl Harbor. She sailed from Pearl Harbor 8 March for Espiritu Santo, arriving 25 March for local escort duty, operating from Espiritu Santo and Noumea in support of the Guadalcanal operation.
On 3 September 1943 she arrived at Tulagi and remained in the Solomons on inter-island escort and minesweeping duty with occasional convoy voyages to Nouméa and Espiritu Santo until 3 April 1944 when she steamed to Auckland, New Zealand for a brief overhaul. She returned to Port Purvis in the Solomons 13 May.
Reclassified as a submarine chaser
On 1 June 1944 her name was canceled and she was reclassified as a submarine chaser PC-1590. She continued her service at Espiritu Santo, Nouméa, Samoa and Tongatapu until 6 May 1946.
Post-war activity
She then returned to Pearl Harbor, where she was decommissioned 19 June 1946. Assigned to the 14th Naval District for Naval Reserve training 28 October 1946, PC-1590 was placed in commission in reserve 5 May 1950, and in full commission from 20 March 1951 until decommissioned 22 October 1954. She was sunk as a target.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Photo gallery of USS Constant at NavSource Naval History