Name USS Comber Completed 1916 Commissioned 19 April 1917 | Namesake Previous name retained Acquired 1917 Length 44 m | |
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Fate Returned to owners 2 April 1919 Builder | ||
The first USS Comber (SP-344) was a United States Navy minesweeper in commission from 1917 to 1919.
U,S. Navy career
Comber was built in 1916 as a commercial fishing trawler of the same name by Manitowoc Shipbuilding Company at Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The U.S. Navy chartered Comber in 1917 for World War I service and commissioned her as USS Comber (SP-344) on 19 April 1917 with Lieutenant M. F. Powers, USNRF, in command.
Fitted out as a minesweeper, Comber carried out minesweeping operations along the coast of New England in the 1st Naval District and 2nd Naval District, carried supplies, and patrolled in the Newport, Rhode Island, area. During the spring and summer of 1918, Comber made two voyages to Bermuda, convoying submarine chasers. After a brief tour of minesweeping in the 4th Naval District off Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware, Comber moved to Boston, Massachusetts to resume minesweeping operations off New England.
The Navy returned Comber to her owners on 2 April 1919.