USS Gladiator (AM-319)

USS Gladiator (AM-319) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Construction history

Gladiator was originally built as BAM-6, and was launched 7 May 1943 as AM-319 by the General Engineering & Drydock Co., Alameda, California; sponsored by Mrs. Madeline A. Silva; and acquired and simultaneously commissioned 25 February 1944.

World War II service

Gladiator sailed from San Francisco, California, 1 May 1944 with a convoy for Pearl Harbor and subsequently made four round trip escort voyages from Hawaii—one to Kwajalein and three to Eniwetok—from 22 May-11 September 1944. Underway again 16 October, she reached Ulithi 12 November and commenced patrol and escort duty in those waters. Voyages to Eniwetok, Kossol Roads, and Saipan, were frequently made to shepherd merchantmen to and from those strategic ports until Gladiator sailed from Ulithi 19 March 1945 for combat at Okinawa.

Closing the beaches of Okinawa 24 March when Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee’ s battleships were bombarding the island, Gladiator began minesweeping operations and screening duties.

Under attack by Japanese aircraft

On 6 April she came under attack from a Japanese bomber and shot it down with the help of four American fighters that were on the bomber's tail during its approach. Another plane was splashed 6 days later when Gladiator's automatic weapons brought it down close aboard on the starboard beam; debris rained about the ship. A third enemy plane was shot down 22 April, crashing into the sea after passing just fifty feet above the ship's deck; but one man was killed and five wounded by the plane's strafing.