USS Ampere
1944 Admirable-class minesweeper
USS Ampere (PCE-919/AM-359/YDG-11/ADG-11) was originally planned as a PCE-905-class patrol craft for the United States Navy, PCE-919, and laid down as an Admirable-class minesweeper, named Drake, for the male duck. Before she was commissioned, her name was cancelled and she was reclassified as a District Degaussing Vessel. She was later renamed Ampere, after the ampere, a unit of electric current, which takes its name from the French physicist André-Marie Ampère.
Design
Ampere was 184 ft 6 in (56.24 m) long, 33 ft (10 m) wide, had a draft of 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m), and displaced 625 long tons (635 t). She had an average speed of 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph). She had a complement of 68 men, and was armed only with a 3 in (76 mm)/50 caliber dual-purpose (DP) gun. She was propelled by two Busch-Sulzer 539 diesel engines, which produced a total 1,710 shp (1,280 kW), and had a Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear alongside two propellers.
Construction
Drake was laid down on 24 November 1943, at Portland, Oregon by the Willamette Iron and Steel Works, and launched on 12 August 1944. On 20 April 1945, her name was canceled, and she was re-designated as a degaussing vessel, YDG-11. The ship was placed in service on 15 August 1945, the day after the Japanese surrender.
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