USS Bombard

USS Bombard (AM-151) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II and in commission from 1944 to 1945. In 1945, she was transferred to the Soviet Union, serving after that in the Soviet Navy as T-336.

Construction and commissioning

Originally classified as a "coastal minesweeper," AMc-128, Bombard was reclassified as a "minesweeper," AM-151, on 21 February 1942. She was laid down on 7 December 1942 at Tampa, Florida, by the Tampa Shipbuilding Company, Inc., launched on 23 February 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Vivian Broadwater, and commissioned on 31 May 1944.

Service history

U.S. Navy, World War II, 1944-1945

After shakedown training, Bombard transited the Panama Canal at the end of July 1944. From there, she voyaged directly to Samoa, departing the Panama Canal Zone on 1 August 1944 and arriving at Tutuila on 29 August 1944. On 2 September 1944, she left Tutuila and made stops at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, and San Francisco, California, before arriving in the waters of the Territory of Alaska at the end of the first week in November 1944. Minesweeping exercises, patrols, and convoy escort missions kept her busy until the summer of 1945 when, having been selected for transfer to the Soviet Navy in Project Hula – a secret program for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy at Cold Bay, Alaska, in anticipation of the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan – she began familiarization training for her new Soviet crew at Cold Bay.

Soviet Navy, 1945-1963

Following the completion of training for her Soviet crew, Bombard was decommissioned on 19 July 1945 at Cold Bay and transferred to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease immediately.