USS Staff (AM-114)

A TRIBUTE TO NORM MYERS' SHIP

USS STAFF (AM-114)

Underway in the vicinity of Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 22 February 1944, following repair of mine damage received during the Sicily operation on 16 July 1943. Photograph was taken from a Naval Air Station Norfolk, plane, flying at 200 feet altitude.
[U.S. Navy Photo 80-G-224589]

I joined the USS STAFF during October 1952 on her return from Scotland and the North Atlantic. The Staff visited Holyhead and the Firth of Forth during September and returned to Charleston mid October.
She resumed operations along the eastern seaboard during the winter of 1953 and 1953; then on 21 April, put to sea to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. While in the Med we visited ports in Africa, Sardinia, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Sicily. We returned to Charleston on the 26th of October and stayed moored until the New Year. The complete details of our six months there are discussed later on in this book.

With final approval from the Commanding Officer in hand and considering that the STAFF would be staying in port, I departed on 30 days leave to Springfield, Ohio to get married to Sue Boblitt Hanlon. After the wedding and sort of a honeymoon, we departed for the long train ride back to Charleston. It took some time for Sue to acclimate herself to being away from home and more so to be so far away from her family. It didn't take long for her to get acquainted with other wives of sailors from the STAFF so her social activity to the beaches etc. really picked up and allowed her to rid herself of the "homesick blues."
The administrative-ships office staff was comprised of YN1 Boyd, YN3 Pair and a Seaman. Much to my surprise they all left the STAFF within just a few months and left me holding the bag. I was unhappy at the time about this action but would later on appreciate all the experience that I gained by being the only member of the office. While many of my Boot Camp buddies went to schools or large vessels with major sized staff, they found passing the advancement examinations a difficult proposition. Being liberty card or other single type responsibility Yeoman didn't allow for well-rounded training or experience required for advancement. I went from E-1 to E-7 in record breaking time and then was able to meet all the qualifications for a Warrant Officer Commission.

Back to "sailing" on January 4, 1954 had us cruising to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the British West Indies. We made port in exciting places like San Juan, St. Thomas, Nassau, Havana, and the Panama Canal. At the Canal we met with ten small minesweepers (AMSs) from the west coast and escorted them to Charleston and Norfolk. After this we spend a couple of months at Panama City, Florida experimenting with some new high-pressure minesweeping equipment.

During July 1954, I was transferred to the Florida Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Florida. This station was responsible for the decommissioning and maintenance of ships that were coming off the active line. In-fact, the STAFF was placed out of commission here on 15 August 1955. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1967. STAFF was awarded six battle stars during World War II.

All in all, I had some very enjoyable experiences and memories while sailing on the STAFF and above all got to see parts of the world that I would have never otherwise visited.

--Norm Myers

Auk Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 28 November 1941 by the American Shipbuilding Co., Cleveland, Ohio; Launched, 17 June 1942; Commissioned USS Staff (AM-114), 11 November 1942; Placed in commission, in reserve, 14 February 1946; Decommissioned, 15 January 1947; Recommissioned, 14 January 1952; Reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull), MSF-114, 7 March 1955; Decommissioned, 15 August 1955 at Green Cove Springs, FL; Struck from the Navy list 1 March 1967; Sold for scrap, 17 November 1967 to the Southern Scrap Metals Co. of New Orleans, LA.
Specifications: Displacement 890 t.; Length 221' 2"; Beam 32'; Draft 10' 9"; Speed 18.1 kts.; Complement 105; Armament one 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two single 40mm gun mounts, two single 20mm gun mounts, two depth charge tracks, five depth charge projectiles; Propulsion two 3,532 shp General Motors 12-278 diesel electric engines, Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts.

[American Shipbuilding Co. builders photo, , Courtesy of U.S. Navy]
(Note the circle designation before the hull number, used in conjunction with WW II minecraft)

(AM-114: dp. 890; 1. 221'2"; b. 32'0"; dr. 10'9"; s. 18.1 k. (tl.) ; cpl. 105; a. 1 3", 2 40mm.; cl. Auk)

Staff (AM-114) was laid down on 28 November 1941 by the American Shipbuilding Co. at Cleveland, Ohio; launched on 17 June 1942; and commissioned on Veterans Day 1942, Lt. Comdr. R. T. McDaniel, USNR, in command.

She completed fitting out at the Boston Navy Yard on 9 January 1943 and reported for shakedown a few days later. In late March, she sailed in the screen of convoy UGS-6 bound for North Africa. The convoy arrived at Mers-el-Kebir on 13 April, and Staff remained there until the 20th. She joined other minesweepers in conducting antisubmarine patrols off the Gulf of Arzeu until the end of May. During the first three weeks in June, Staff swept mines off the Gulf of Oran, returning to the Mers-el-Kebir anchorage each night.

Between 24 June and 1 July, she divided her time between patrols, exercises, and mine sweeps; then joined Task Force 85 at anchor in Mers-el-Kebir. On the 5th, the task force sortied and headed for Sicily. Staff sailed in the screen and arrived off the Sicilian coast on 9 July. During the invasion, the minesweeper was assigned patrol duties off Scoglitti. She patrolled, sank mines, and duelled with shore batteries between 9 and 16 July. On the 16th, during an engagement with shore batteries, Staff struck a mine and sustained extensive damage in the forward engine room and suffered a number of casualties. She entered Licata on the 17th and remained there until 8 August when Hopi (AT-71) got underway with the minesweeper in tow. The two ships reached Bizerte, Tunisia, on the 10th and Oran, Algeria, on the 16th.

Staff was docked at Oran on 31 August and was refloated on 23 September. On 18 October, SS Moose Peak towed her out of Oran, and they joined UGS-18 for the voyage to the United States. She made Norfolk, Va., on 6 November and was soon docked again for battle repairs. She remained in the United States until 25 March 1944 when she sailed from New York
to Plymouth, England, for temporary duty with the 12th Fleet. That assignment lasted from 15 April to 1 August.
From there, she moved to the Mediterranean for another temporary duty assignment, this time with the 8th Fleet. She was at Oran from 6 to 10 August and, by 15 August, was off the Mediterranean coast of France for the invasion there. She supported the invasion until mid-November, then returned to Oran. From there, she headed back to the United States on 24 November. She reached Norfolk on 11 December and did not leave until 15 February 194:"), when she sailed south to Panama. Staff transited the canal 10 days later and arrived in Pearl Harbor on 19 March. She remained at Pearl Harbor until 9 May, first in overhaul, then conducting exercises with submarines off Oahu.

On 9 May, she got underway in the screen of a westward-bound convoy. The ships reached Eniwetok on 18 May; and, two days later, Staff sailed for the Marianas with Tumult (PC-478) and SC-727. They entered Apra Harbor, Guam, on the 22d. Almost a week later, on the 28th, she got underway for Okinawa. The minesweeper escorted a convoy of LST's to Nakagusuku Wan (Buckner Bay), Okinawa, then put into Kerama Retto on 6 June. For the remainder of the month, Staff operated out of the anchorage at Kerama Retto, patrolling and screening around Okinawa. She cleared the area on 30 June and returned to Guam the following day. She remained in the Marianas, visiting both Guam and Saipan, until 2 August. She arrived off Okinawa again on 7 August and took part in operation "Skagway," a minesweeping operation in the East China Sea, from 13 to 25 August.
On the 25th, Staff returned to Buckner Bay and, on 1 September, sailed in company with six other mine-craft and four smaller vessels to conduct the initial sweep of the Kyushu approaches. On the 9th, she departed Japan for Okinawa and reentered Buckner Bay on the 11th. Staff stood out again on 21 September and headed for Bungo Suido to conduct further sweeps in the Japanese home islands, this time in the waters between Kyushu and Shikoku. She continued minesweeping operations through the fall and into winter.

In late December, she visited Shanghai; then headed for the United States. She stopped at Pearl Harbor early in February 1946 and reached San Pedro, Calif., on the 14th. There, she reported to the 19th Fleet and began inactivation overhaul at Terminal Island. Staff was retained in commission, in reserve, until 15 January 1947, when she was decommissioned and berthed at San Diego.

On 14 January 1952, Staff was recommissioned at San Diego and sailed—via Acapulco, the Panama Canal, and Guantanamo Bay—to Charleston, S.C., and Norfolk, Va. She was assigned to Mine Squadron 6 and operated along the east coast until 26 August when she sailed for Scotland. Staff visited Holyhead and the Firth of Forth in September and returned to Charleston on 12 October. She resumed operations along the eastern seaboard during the winter of 1952 and 1953; then, on 21 April 1953, put to sea to join the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Staff cruised with the 6th Fleet until October, visiting most of the major ports on the Mediterranean. She reentered Charleston on 26 October, and she was moored until the new year.

On 4 January 1954, she embarked on a cruise to the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the British West Indies. She returned to Charleston on 2 April and operated from there until September. Staff rejoined the 6th Fleet in mid-September and cruised the "middle sea" until January 1955. The minesweeper returned to Charleston on 29 January. On 7 February, she was redesignated MSF-114; and, on 28 March, she reported to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet for inactivation. She was placed out of commission, in reserve, at Green Cove Springs, Fla., on 15 August 1955. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1967 and her hulk sold to Southern Scrap Metals Co. of New Orleans, La., on 17 November 1967.
Staff was awarded six battle stars during World War II.

[Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. VI, pg 599-600]

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