USS John Blish
| History | |
|---|---|
 USA
|
|
| Name: |
|
| Namesake: | Commander John Blish, USN |
| Builder: | Ballard Marine Railway Co., Seattle, Washington |
| Laid down: | 23 May 1943 |
| Launched: | 6 September 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 26 February 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 22 August 1949 |
| Fate: | Sold 10 February 1950 to Boston Metals Co. of Baltimore for scrap |
| Status: | Scrapped |
| Notes: | Ship International Radio Callsign: NTYX |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | PCS-1376 Patrol Coastal Sweeper |
| Displacement: | 245 t. (light), 338 t. (full) |
| Length: | 136 feet |
| Beam: | 24 feet 6 inches |
| Draft: | 8 feet 7 inches |
| Propulsion: | Two 800bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines |
| Speed: | 14,1 knots |
| Complement: | 57 |
| Armament: | One 3/50' Dual Purpose Mount, one single 20mm AA mount |
| Aircraft carried: | None |
| Aviation facilities: | None |
USS John Blish was a Patrol Craft Sweeper (PCS) of the PCS-1376-Class, five of which were converted to small hydrographic survey vessels designated AGS and later coastal survey vessels, AGSc, that conducted hydrographic surveys for the United States Navy during and immediately after the Second World War. The small PCS type vessels assigned to the United States Navy Hydrographic Office missions conducted pre invasion surveys, sometimes under fire, with the survey crews erecting signals for survey and later navigation, laying buoys and placing lights.
Originally, PCS-1457 the survey vessel, conducted surveys supporting the Mariana Islands campaign, the landings at Iwo Jima the ship was renamed and redesignated John Blish (AGS-10) before conducting surveys supporting the landings at Okinawa. After the war John Blish was redesignated at a coastal survey ship, AGSc, conducting surveys off the United States West Coast until decommissioned at New York on 22 August 1949.
PCS-1457, planned as PC-1457, was reclassified PCS in April 1943 and laid down by Ballard Marine Railway Company, Seattle, Washington on 23 May 1943. The vessel was launched on 6 September 1943 sponsored by Miss Patricia McQuire and on 26 February 1944 commissioned as USS PCS-1457 sailing for the Pacific war zone after shakedown and training.
The mission of the small survey vessels involved pre invasion surveys, sometimes under fire, with the survey crews erecting signals for survey and later erecting navigation, laying buoys and placing lights for further operations as well as conducting routine surveys of islands in fleet operating areas.
PCS-1457 supported the recapture of the Marianas, specifically Guam and Tinian landings with surveys before and after the invasion. After the Marianas operations the ship conducted general surveys in the Pacific until February 1945 when she conducted pre invasion surveys at Iwo Jima followed by surveys as the island was being secured. Charts resulting from surveys were printed on board USS Sumner with a survey team from that ship erecting a reference navigational signal atop Mount Suribachi.
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Wikipedia