USS Prowess (AM-280)

USS Prowess (AM-280) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II. At war's end she was placed in reserve. In the mid-1960s, she was converted into a training ship for U.S. Naval Reserve personnel. She was transferred to South Vietnam in June 1970 as RVNS Ha Hoi (HQ-13) in the Republic of Vietnam Navy. In 1975, Ha Hoi was seized by North Vietnamese forces and incorporated into the Vietnamese People's Navy. She remained in service until 1998, when she was converted into a training ship. She has since been scrapped.

History
United States
Name: USS Prowess (AM-280)
Builder: Gulf Shipbuilding Company, Chickasaw, Alabama
Laid down: 15 September 1943
Launched: 17 February 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. Thomas W. Rubottom
Commissioned: 27 September 1944
Decommissioned: December 1945
Reclassified: MSF-280, 7 February 1955
In service: 1965
Out of service: June 1970
Reclassified: IX-305, 1 March 1966
Fate: transferred to South Vietnam, 4 June 1970
Stricken: 1970
History
South Vietnam
Name: RVNS Ha Hoi (HQ 13)
Acquired: 4 June 1970
Fate: captured by North Vietnamese forces
History
Vietnam
Name: unknown
Acquired: c. 1975
Fate: hulked and converted to training vessel, 1998; scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type: Admirable-class minesweeper
Displacement: 650 tons
Length: 184 ft 6 in (56.24 m)
Beam: 33 ft (10 m)
Draft: 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m)
Propulsion:
Speed: 14.8 knots (27.4 km/h)
Complement: 104
Armament:
Service record
Part of:

Career

Prowess was laid down 15 September 1943 by Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Chickasaw, Alabama; launched 17 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas W. Rubottom; and commissioned 27 September 1944, Lt. Comdr. J. W. Meiere in command. Following shakedown out of Little Creek, Virginia, Prowess escorted USS Pontiac (AF-20) from Boston, Massachusetts, to Bermuda, departing Boston 14 December 1944. Upon returning to Little Creek, she trained minesweeper personnel from 1 January 1945 to 31 August. Departing Little Creek 3 October, she participated in festivities honoring Admiral Nimitz at Washington, D.C., in early October. After a visit to Wilmington, Delaware, she returned to Norfolk, Virginia.

Prowess entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in December 1945. She was reclassified MSF-280 on 7 February 1955. Assigned a homeport of Buffalo, New York, from 1 September 1965 and reclassified as an Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary IX-305 on 1 March 1966, she has served as a naval reserve training ship from February 1962 into 1970.

She was transferred to South Vietnam, 4 June 1970 as RVNS Ha Hoi (HQ-13) and struck from the Naval Register in 1970. She was captured by North Vietnamese forces in 1975. In 1998, after some 23 years of service in the Vietnamese People's Navy, she was hulked and converted to a training vessel. She has since been scrapped.

References
  • This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
  • "Prowess". Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive. NavSource Online. Retrieved 2008-02-18.


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