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The ADAMS was named for
a naval aviator, Lieutenant Samuel Adams, killed on 6 June 1942 at the
Battle of Midway. Reclassified DM-27 on 19 July 1944, the ADAMS was
converted to a high-speed minelayer during construction. She was
launched 23 July and was commissioned 10 October 1944 as a unit of
Division 8, Mine Squadron 3.
Following shakedown and
training, the ADAMS joined the SHEA (DM-30) for their voyage to the
Pacific via the Panama Canal. She spent two months operating in Hawaiian
waters, with time out for installation of VF radar equipment and other
yard work. On 2 March, she steamed out of Pearl Harbor bound for the war
zone and the invasion of Okinawa.
Over the coming months,
she and the rest of the ships in Admiral Sharp's minesweeping force
proved time and again "No Sweep, No Invasion." On her arrival southwest
of the island on 23 March, the ADAMS's crew received a painful
introduction to combat. That evening, during an enemy raid on their task
group, a projectile fired from the after 5-inch mount exploded
prematurely. Shrapnel tore into the crews manning the after quadruple
40-mm mount. Two sailors died within minutes of the explosion. Thirteen
suffered injuries of varying severity.
GM2c James F. McInnis,
ignoring a leg wound, led the fight against fires that threatened to set
off ammunition and helped throw the hot projectiles overboard. He also
gave a hand with the wounded and supervised remanning the gun. Two other
members of the ill-fated gun crew, Chief Gunner's mate Thomas E. Jackson
and Lieutenant (jg) Wilbert M. Healy, who both suffered shoulder wounds,
directed and assisted in the removal of casualties and restored the gun
to operation. Lieutenant (jg) Kenneth J. Welch, the ship's medical
officer, turned the wardroom into an emergency OR and undertook several
life-saving operations. At his side was Lieutenant (jg) Clayton J.
Charbonnet, a communications officer, who rendered first aid and filled
in as an anesthetist. In the meantime, Lieutenant Charles F. Dufour's
prompt location of damage and supervision of repairs kept the ship in
action. Undaunted, the rest of the ADAMS's crew were at work at daybreak
the next morning providing fire support and mine destruction services to
the four wooden-hulled minesweepers, or AMs, as they swept the
approaches to Okinawa. In the process, they sank ten mines.
The first actual air
raid against the sweep group occurred on 26 March. Her gunners fought
off at least twelve air attacks on the ship as the crew continued their
sweeping operations. The gun crews splashed six of the enemy planes and
had two probable kills. At 0618 on the 28th, one of that morning's
attackers plowed into the water off the ADAMS's port bow, showering her
decks with parts of the plane. Oil and gasoline sprayed the open bridge.
While steaming in the retirement area the following night, she was
attacked by two planes and claimed one that plunged into the sea off her
port quarter. Later, she collided with a salvage vessel and was forced
to retire to Kerama Retto to have the hole in her bow repaired.
Operating southwest of
Kerama Retto near dawn on 1 April, the ADAMS earned the dubious honor of
being the first DM of Squadron 3 to be hit by the enemy. That morning, a
badly damaged "Tony" crashed directly under her fantail. The plane was
probably carrying two bombs, which both exploded causing considerable
damage. Her rudders were jammed at hard right limiting her evasive
maneuvering to a tight circle. Two more kamikazes seized the opportunity
to attack the disabled ship. The damage had not hampered her crew's
ability to fight back. Her gunners brought down one of the attackers,
and the other was splashed by the MULLANY (DD-528), which had been
dispatched to aid the ADAMS. She was quickly towed out of the area by
the ENDYMION (ARL-9) for the temporary repairs that would get her safely
to San Francisco's Mare Island Navy Yard. She made the entire trip to
the West Coast from Kerama Retto without rudders, steering with her
engines instead. The ship was out of action until July.
She then returned to
the western Pacific, arriving at Guam on 15 August, the day hostilities
ended. She continued on to Okinawa and by 3 September, was off
Kagoshima, Kyushu, Japan. There, she joined the minesweeping force of
six AMs and three PGMs preparing to clear the channel into that port.
After conferring with the pilot from a Japanese pilot vessel, the
minesweeping unit went to work clearing the 2,000-yard channel, which
the ADAMS marked with radar buoys. On 4 September, the minesweeping
force rendezvoused again with a Japanese pilot boat, which led them up
the channel to Takasu. For the next three days, she anchored off Takasu
while the unit completed sweeping the remainder of Kagoshima Kaiwan.
Before returning to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, the ADAMS conducted five LCIs
around the minefields in the Van Dieman Straits. Continuing her work
with the sweeps, she operated in the waters off Honshu, Japan's main
island, clearing the way for the landing of army troops at Nagoya. On 28
November, she joined Task Group 70.5 for ten days of minesweeping in the
Taiwan Strait and then moved on to the China Sea and waters off Korea
and the Japanese home islands until December 1945. Over the year, she
had steamed approximately 53,400 miles, fired 5,886 rounds of five-inch
ammunition and approximately 17,053 rounds of 20-mm and 23,659 rounds of
40-mm ammunition.
Finally in April 1946, the ADAMS returned to the West Coast where she
served with the First Fleet until decommissioned in December. She was
assigned to the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet on 29 January
1947. While still in reserve, the ADAMS was redesignated a fast
minelayer MMD-27 on 7 February 1955. She was finally struck from the
navy's list on 1 December 1970 and sold to Chou's Iron & Steel Company
of Taipei, Taiwan on 16 December 1971. |
