| Career | 
|
|---|---|
| Originally named: | J. A. Martinolich |
| Launched: | 1938 |
| Commissioned: | 7 December 1940 |
| Battle Stars: | None indicated |
| Fate: | Sank after collision, 30 June 1942 |
| Struck: | 24 July 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class: | Early coastal minesweeper |
| Displacement: | Not indicated |
| Length: | 85’ |
| Beam: | Not indicated |
| Draft: | 10’5” |
| Speed: | Not indicated |
| Complement: | Not indicated |
| Armament: | Not indicated |
USS Hornbill (AMc-13) was a coastal minesweeper named by the U.S. Navy after the hornbill.
Hornbill, formerly J. A. Martinolich, was launched in 1938 by Martinolich Repair Basin, Tacoma, Washington. She was taken over by the Navy and commissioned on 7 December 1940.
West Coast assignment
Hornbill was assigned to the mine force in the 12th Naval District. She engaged in coastal sweeping of the main ship channel for magnetic and acoustic type mines. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, her service became more valuable with the Japanese threat to U.S. West Coast sea traffic.
Collision and sinking
On the morning of 30 June 1942, a lumber schooner, Esther Johnson, on passage from Coos Bay, Oregon, collided with Hornbill in San Francisco Bay. Approximately one half hour after the collision the minesweeper sank. The crew was saved and a small amount of equipment was safely removed to the lumber schooner. She was stricken from the Navy Register on 24 July 1942.
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.- "Hornbill". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval Historical Center, Department of the Navy. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
- "USS Hornbill (AMc-13)". Ships of the U.S. Navy, 1940-1945. Retrieved 2007-05-28.