USS Picket (ACM-8)
Army M 1 Mine Planter USAMP MP-7 Major General Wallace F. Randolph a sister ship to USAMP-1 General Henry Knox. Records (#742), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | USS Picket (ACM-8) |
| Builder | Marietta Manufacturing Company, Point Pleasant, West Virginia |
| Laid down | as USAMP-1 General Henry Knox for the U.S. Army Mine Planter Service |
| Completed | 1942 – Navy conversion: 15 March 1945 |
| Acquired | 2 January 1945 |
| Commissioned | 6 March 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 24 June 1946 |
| Reclassified | ACM-8, 5 March 1945 |
| Stricken | 19 July 1946 |
| Fate | Transferred to the Coast Guard, 24 June 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 1,320 long tons (1,341 t) full |
| Length | 188 ft 2 in (57.35 m) |
| Beam | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Propulsion | Skinner Engine Company reciprocating steam engine; 2 Combustion Engineering boilers; twin propellers; 1,200 SHP. |
| Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Complement | 69 |
| Armament | 1 × 40 mm gun |
| United States | |
| Name | Willow (WAGL/WLB-332) |
| Acquired | 1947 |
| Commissioned | 20 September 1947 |
| Decommissioned | 10 October 1969 |
| Identification | IMO number: 7338298 |
| Fate | Deleted from registers 1993 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 1,240 long tons (1,260 t) full |
| Length | 188 ft 2 in (57.35 m) |
| Beam | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) |
| Propulsion | Skinner Engine Company reciprocating steam engine; 2 Combustion Engineering boilers; twin propellers; 1,200 SHP. |
| Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Range | 2,450 miles @ 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) |
| Complement | 52 |
| Armament | Small arms only |
| Notes | 20-ton boom capacity |
USS Picket (ACM–8) was a Chimo-class minelayer of the United States Navy during World War II.
Picket was completed 15 April 1942 by Marietta Manufacturing Co., Point Pleasant, West Virginia, as the U.S. Army mine planter USAMP-1 General Henry Knox as the first of the WW II period planters built for the U.S. Army Mine Planter Service. USAMP Knox was transferred to the U.S. Navy 2 January 1945; completed conversion to an Auxiliary Minelayer, ACM-8, at Charleston Navy Yard 5 March 1945; and commissioned 6 March 1945.