Wreck of USS Swallow (AM 65)

Japan / Okinawa / Tomigusuku /
 Second World War 1939-1945, shipwreck, draw only border
USS Swallow was a Auk Class Minesweeper laid down in July 1941 and commissioned into US Navy service in January 1943 as a member of the US Pacific Fleet. After steaming for Pearl Harbor and conducting training for over two months, the Swallow began her wartime service in May 1943 at Ebon Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Operating primarily as a convoy escort for the remainder of 1943, the Swallow screened inter-island convoys around the South Pacific and Marshall Islands before she steamed for duty in the Solomon Islands area in January 1944. Continuing her convoy escort and minesweeping duties along the chain of islands in support of Allied forces, the Swallow was ordered to Eniwetok Atoll in July for duty with the Marianas Islands Invasion force. After escorting a troop convoy to Guam, the Swallow and her crew took up station off Apra Harbor on July 21st and spent the next two months engaged in minesweeping, anti-submarine and gunfire support and convoy escort roles off Guam while US troops fought to secure the island. Her mission completed, the Swallow returned to Pearl Harbor and then sailed for San Francisco for overhaul and repairs, arriving on September 30th.

Emerging from the yard on December 22nd, 1944, the Swallow operated off San Diego on training missions until February, then returned to Pearl Harbor for more training before steaming in convoy for Ulithi Atoll, where the US Navy was massing for the upcoming Invasion of Okinawa. Sailing in convoy as part of the advance force on March 19th, the Swallow arrived off Okinawa on March 24th and began intensive minesweeping operations to clear the approaches and landing beaches in advance of the landing force due to arrive on April 1st. After minesweeping the shores of Okinawa for 17 days straight, the Swallow retired to Kerama Retto to reprovision on April 11th.

With the majority of the landing force ashore by the 11th, the Swallow was reassigned to anti-submarine patrols around the Kerama Retto anchorage to protect allied operations staging there. Continuing this work for the next eleven days the Swallow was steaming East of the anchorage when reports were received at 1830hrs of a large force of Kamikaze's attacking the US Fleet off Okinawa. Her crew went to their battle stations but were unable to sight any enemy planes due to low cloud cover overhead, though the sound of their engines grew louder and louder. Suddenly a single bomb-laden 'Zero' appeared through the cloud deck diving straight for the Swallow, and before her crew even had a chance to react the plane slammed into her Starboard side midship area, just above the waterline at 1858hrs. Though the plane disintegrated upon impact with the Swallow's steel hull, it's engine and bombload blew a large hole in her hull and caused both her engine rooms to quickly flood. With a significant amount of her internal hull space compromised and flooding, the Swallow took a 45 degree list to Starboard and continued to heel over with increasing speed as her topside rails went below the water's surface. Realizing the ship was in imminent danger of sinking, the Swallow's Captain ordered the abandon ship at 1901hrs and her entire crew took to the water as the Swallow went horizontal. With water pouring through ventilation cowlings and her funnels, the Swallow quickly swamped and sank at this location at 1904hrs on April 22nd, 1945. Her wreck now lies in 510ft of water.

For her actions off Okinawa, the USS Swallow was awarded her second and final Battle Star for World War Two service.

www.navsource.org/archives/11/02065.htm
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Swallow_(AM-65)
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   26°9'59"N   127°12'0"E

Comments

  • My great Grandfather was on the crew aboard the swallow. He was there and he survived it and his story is much more different that what happened. well after the boat sank, the men who survived were stuck in the waters of the pacific for three days and nights. the crew were dying from not only hypothermia and lack of nutrients; but my great grandfather also said the sharks were killing off the most survivors. On the third day a pod of dolphins actually camp and fought off the sharks. they sway around the men helping those who were about to drown and fighting off attacking sharks until help finally came.
  • My grandfather was also serving on the AM-65 when it was struck. He never spoke of the details until his dying days but what you have posted I can also confirm. He was only 19 and it was his first assignment.
  • Wow Gavin my father was a crewman on that ship too and he lived to tell about it though I knew my dad was in the navy I didn't know much about his story until he was in his early eighties...he was definitely picked up obviously but also told me after I found the muster rolls for that day it said nearly all 105 of the crew survived except one and another with undetermined injuries........when I showed him that he told me that when he read in a newspaper that most of them survived but he didn't believe the report was correct he felt many more had died. It would have been so horrific it seems more logical that the death numbers would have been much higher he witnessed one of the men on the ship shortly before it went down that was on fire and his skin was just melting off of his body....what is you grandfathers name?
This article was last modified 3 years ago