USS Defense (AM-317) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Construction history

Defense was launched on 18 February 1943 at General Engineering and Dry Dock Company in Alameda, California, sponsored by Mrs. A. Duncanfield, and commissioned on 10 January 1944, with Lieutenant Commander G. Abbott, USNR, in command. She was reclassified MSF-317 on 7 February 1955.

World War II service

Convoy duty

Sailing from San Francisco, California, on 24 March 1944, Defense escorted a convoy to Majuro, then swept mines and had escort duty off Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, from 9 to 19 April. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 30 April, and between 8 May and 9 July escorted two convoys, one to Majuro and one to Eniwetok. After conducting experimental minesweeping exercises at Pearl Harbor until 22 July, she got underway for San Francisco, arriving there on 30 July.