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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Monadnock (ACM 10)
ex-CM-9
ex-CMc-4



Call sign:
Nan - Charlie - Able - Victor
Monadnock Class Coastal Minelayer:

  • The third Monadnock was laid down in 1938 as Cavalier by Pusey and Jones Corp., Wilmington, DE
  • Acquired by the Navy 5 May 1941 and converted to a Coastal Minelayer by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Atlantic Works, East Boston, MA
  • Renamed Monadnock 14 May 1941
  • Commissioned USS Monadnock (CMc-4), 2 December 1941
  • Reclassified as a Minelayer, CM-9, 1 May 1942
  • Damaged by debris 4 January 1945 from exploding U.S. freighter Lewis D. Dyche that was struck by a kamikaze and disintegrated south of Mindoro, Philippines
  • Reclassified as an Auxiliary Minelayer, ACM-10, 10 July 1945 at San Francisco, CA
  • Decommissioned 3 June 1946 at San Francisco
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal 20 June 1947
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 list as being transferred to the War Shipping Administration in July 1947
  • Sold into mercantile service to a Panamanian company in 1949 and renamed Karukara
  • Sold in 1952 to Naviera Aznar S. A. of Bilboa, Spain, renamed Monte de la Esperanza and operated for more than 20 years transporting bananas from the Canary Islands to the United Kingdom
  • Sold to the Marine Institute of Spain and renamed Esperanza del Mar. She was equipped as a hospital ship operating out of the Canary Islands to help fishing ships in the area for more than 10 years
  • Sunk as an artificial reef in 2000 off the coast of Spain.

    Specifications

  • Displacement 3,110 t.
  • Length 292'
  • Beam 48' 6'
  • Draft 19' 8"
  • Speed 17.5 kts.
  • Complement 201
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 dual purpose mounts (Forward 3"/50 removed and replaced with one quad 40mm mount), two twin 40mm mounts, 10 single 20mm mounts and two depth charge racks
  • Propulsion: Two Babcock and Wilcox superheating steam boilers, single 4,000shp General Electric geared turbine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Cavalier
    Monadnock 142k At her builder's on 2 May 1938
    U.S. Navy photo from the June 2004 edition of Naval History magazine.    		 Joe Radigan
    Monadnock 97k Off the Southern Railway Piers at Portsmouth, Va., on 22 August 1939. Note the absence of masts and cargo booms fore and aft and the two open side-loading ports amidships through which she loaded her cargo of vehicles and parcels
    Photo from Shipscribe.com    		 Mike Green
    Monadnock 80k c. 1938/1940
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 101424    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Monadnock (CMc 4)
    Monadnock 90k 4 December 1941
    Near the Boston Navy Yard two days after commissioning
    National Archives photo 19-N-25325 from Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Monadnock (CM 9)
    Monadnock 170k 26 June 1942
    Monadnock and USS Miantonomah (CM 10) berthed at Norfolk, VA    		 John Chiquoine
    Monadnock 233k 11 November 1942
    Lieutenant Commander John T. Blackburn, USN, Commanding Officer of Escort Fighter Squadron Nine (VGF-9) being transferred by breeches buoy from USS Monadnock (CM-9) to USS Santee (ACV-29) during the North Africa Operation. He had spent 64 hours in the ocean awaiting rescue after his plane crashed
    Photographed by Lieutenant Horace Bristol, USNR
    National Archives photo 80-G-469688 from the Naval History and Heritage Command

    Blackburn was a graduate of the U.S.Naval Academy Class of 1933. He became a double Ace, with 11 Japanese kills to his credit while in command of Fighter Squadron Seventeen (VF 17). He was awarded the Navy Cross (1943) and the Distinguished Flying Cross (1943). He eventually went on to become commanding officer of USS Midway (CVA 41) from June 1958 - May 1959 and retired as Captain

    		 Mike Green
    Monadnock 143k Kerama Retto, Okinawa anchorage. USS YMS-183 is alongside between 26 April and 3 May 1945
    Photo from USS Isherwood [DD 520] damage photos in National Archives group 19GC-c-dd520    		 Dave Schroeder and John Chiquoine
    USS Monadnock (ACM 10)
    Monadnock 87k c. 1945
    Sasebo, Japan    		 Chuck Schoen
    Monadnock 124k c. October 1945
    Photographed from USS Holland (ARG 18) with a Submarine Chaser (PC) alongside at the Boston Navy Yard two days after commissioning. The stern does not show the large sponsons aft added to her sister in 1944 and she probably did not receive this alteration. Her foremast has been moved to a position behind the bridge, probably during her conversion in mid-1945 to an auxiliary minelayer (ACM) and minesweeper support ship
    Naval History and Heritage Command Stillwater Collection from Shipscribe    		 Robert Hurst
    Monadnock 98k Probably at San Francisco shortly after her return there in April 1946. Note the foremast in its new position behind the bridge, the new 40 mm quad mount forward, and the extreme weathering to the hull paint on the bow.
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo from Shipscribe
    Monte de la Esperanza
    Monadnock 40k Alberto García
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Frederick Oliver Goldsmith, USN2 December 1941 - March 1944
    02LCDR Kenneth David Gallinger, USNRMarch 1944 - September 1944
    03LCDR John E. Cole, USNRSeptember 1944 - 27 August 1945
    04LCDR William H. East, USNR27 August 1945 - December 1945
    05LT Berle B. Babler, USNRDecember 1945 - March 1946
    06LCDR Francis Monroe Linderman, USNMarch 1946 - 3 June 1946
    Courtesy Joe Radigan and Wolfgang Hechler
    View the Monadnock (ACM 10)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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