| A diesel-powered trawler built for the Red Diamond Trawling Corp.
was laid down as Illinois at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works on
25 October 1930; launched on 19 March 1931; acquired by the Navy on 9 August
1940; renamed Albatross on 145 August 1940; and commissioned at the
Boston Navy a Yard on 8 November 1940, Lt. Lysle E. Ellis in command. |
| Following her conversion for naval service as a minesweeper by
the General Ship & Engine Works, Boston, Massachutes, Albatross
was assigned to duty in the 5th Naval District. In early May 1941, she sailed
to Bermuda, arriving at Port Royal Bay on 9 May. The ship operated in Bermuda
waters until 15 August, when she got underway for Norfolk, Virginia. After
a period of upkeep, she returned to her minesweeping activities in the Hampton
Roads area. On 12 December, she set sail for Newfoundland, arriving at Argentia
on 23 December 1941. |
| Albatross left that port on 4 January 1942 in company with
Linnet (AM-76) to join a British convoy bound for Iceland. En route
to the rendezvous, the ships encountered heavy weather which forced them
to change their course; and they reached Londonderry, Northern Ireland, on
16 January. Although Albatross had sustained minor damage, she was
sent to Iceland via norther Scotland, the Orkeneys, Shetlands, and Faroe
Islands. The minesweeper finally returned to the United States in July, when
she arrived at the Boston Navy Yard, She left Boston as an escort for a convoy
on 1 October and reached Greenland on 21 October. Albatross spent
the remainder of the year in waters around Greenland. |
| Albatross struck and iceberg on 7 January 1943, causing
minor damage. Then an ice pack for4med astern of the ship, blocking the ship's
path until shifting winds cleared the ice, enabling her to leave Greenland
on 12 January. She touched at Newfoundland on 3 February and then proceeded
on to Boston, arriving on the 8th. Albatross reached Norfolk on the
11th. After a month's overhaul, she got underway for Canada. On 11 April,
while operating out of Nova Scotia, Albatross was struck by another
ship and suffered damage which caused her to return to Boston for a drydock
period. When this was completed, the minesweeper returned to Greenland to
resume her convoy duties. |
| Albatross spent the first six months of 1944 moored to
the pier at Narsarssuak, Greenland, awaiting repairs to her main engine which
were held up for want of spare parts. While she was thus immobilized, she
provided repairs and services to other ships. ON 1 June, Albatross
was redesignated IX-171. When her engine was finally back in working order,
she headed home and arrived at Boston on 14 July.l Then the minesweeper reported
to the 1st Naval District for inactivation. Stripped of her military equipment,
she was decommissioned on 11 September 1944. Albatross was transferred
to the Maritime Commission on 15 November 1944 for disposal. She then resumed
the name Illinois, but no record of her subsequent career has been
found. |
|
Bibliography
 |
James L. Mooney, Dictionary of American Naval
Fighting Ships, (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1968, Repring 1977), Vol.3: G-K, p. 418 |
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