Name USS Macaw Commissioned 12 July 1943 Fate Sunk, 13 February 1944 Launched 12 July 1942 | Laid down 15 October 1941 Struck 25 March 1944 Construction started 15 October 1941 Length 77 m | |
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Class and type Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship | ||
The USS Macaw (ASR-11) was a Chanticleer-class submarine rescue ship in the United States Navy.
Macaw was laid down 15 October 1941 by the Moore Dry Dock Co., Oakland, California; launched 12 July 1942; sponsored by Miss Valnessa Easton of Berkeley, Calif.; and commissioned exactly one year later, Lt. Comdr. Paul Willits Burton in command.
Departing California 28 August 1943, after shakedown and training exercises, Macaw steamed in convoy to Espiritu Santo, arriving 2 October. Thence proceeding to Funafuti, via Wallis Island, she charted previously unknown reefs. She anchored off Funafuti on the 16th and remained until 13 November when she was ordered back to Pearl Harbor. After six weeks in Hawaii, Macaw departed for Midway Island.
Macaw ran aground on a reef at Midway Atoll on 16 January 1944 while attempting to assist the submarine USS Flier (SS-250), which had herself run aground earlier that day. On the night of 12–13 February 1944, Macaw slipped off the reef in heavy seas and sank. During the sinking her commanding officer, Paul Burton, and four crewmen died after abandoning ship.
Macaw was struck from the Navy list 25 March 1944.
Macaw was awarded one battle star for World War II service.
In 2003 the wreck of Macaw was surveyed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.