USS Speed ( AM - 116 ) USS " Speed " ( AM - 116 ) was an acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing . " Speed " was laid down at Cleveland , Ohio , on 17 November 1941 by the American Ship Building Company , launched on 18 April 1942 , and commissioned on 15 October 1942 Comdr . Ernest L . Posey in command . World War II Mediterranean operations . Departing Cleveland , Ohio on 15 November , " Speed " proceeded to Boston , Massachusetts , where she arrived on 8 December . During the next three months , she conducted shakedown and training along the $ 3 Coast from Casco Bay , Maine , to Norfolk , Virginia , before departing New York on 19 March 1943 for the Mediterranean . As escort for an eastbound convoy , she sailed via Bermuda and arrived at Tunis , Tunisia , on 13 April . Assigned to Mine Division 17 , " Speed " conducted coastal patrols off the coast of Algeria during the next two months . On 5 July , she departed Mers El Kébir , Algeria , and joined Vice Admiral H . Kent Hewitt ' s Western Naval Task Force for the invasion of Sicily . Steaming with ships of Task Force 85 , she closed the Sicilian coast off Scoglitti on 10 July and served as a control ship during amphibious assaults . Following the invasion , " Speed " swept waters along the southern and western coasts of Sicily . After sweeping off Palermo , she escorted supply convoys between Tunisia and Sicily from 10 to 23 August . On 25 August , she sailed for Algeria and arrived at Oran on the 29th to prepare for the invasion of Italy . Invasion of Italy operations . As a unit of Rear Admiral J . L . Hall ' s Southern Attack Force , " Speed " departed Oran on 5 September and arrived off the Gulf of Salerno late on 8 September . She swept channels during the landings the next day and operated in the Gulf of Salerno on mine and antisubmarine patrols until 26 September . While on patrol on the 25th , she rescued survivors of after that minesweeper had been fatally hit by an enemy torpedo . " Speed " departed Salerno on 26 September and escorted a convoy of merchant ships to Bizerte , Tunisia . Interspersed with minesweeping and ASW patrols , she performed escort duties during the next nine months as she screened supply and reinforcement convoys from North Africa to Sicily and Italy . While steaming in convoy from Oran to Bizerte on 20 April 1944 , she helped repulse a determined German air attack which sank three ships , including . After returning to Naples on 20 June , " Speed " operated in the Gulf of Salerno until 7 August preparing for the invasion of southern France . Assigned to Task Force 87 , she departed Salerno on 12 August and escorted an LCI convoy to the assault area off Fréjus and St . Raphael . She closed the French coast early on 15 August and served as a glide bomb " jam ship " and in the ASW screen during amphibious landings . She operated along the French coast during the next few weeks , sweeping channels and clearing harbors from Fréjus to Toulon . Stateside overhaul . After two escort runs to North Africa , she departed Oran for the United States on 24 November and arrived at Norfolk , Virginia on 11 December to begin a two - month overhaul . Pacific Ocean operations . " Speed " departed Norfolk , Virginia , on 15 March 1945 for mine - sweeping duty in the western $ 3 . Steaming via the Panama Canal and San Diego , California , she reached Pearl Harbor on 31 May . Between 11 June and 12 July , she steamed to Okinawa via the Marshall Islands and Marianas Islands . Assigned to Mine Squadron Six , she swept the waters of the Ryūkyūs during the closing weeks of World War II . Post - World War II operations . After the end of hostilities , she departed Okinawa on 1 September for sweeping operations along the coast of Japan . Arriving at Kagoshima , Kyūshū , on 3 September , she swept Kagoshima Wan and Van Diemen Strait before returning to Okinawa on 13 September . During the remainder of 1945 , " Speed " continued minesweeping operations in support of the Allied occupation of Japan . Her duties carried her to Bungo Suido and the Inland Sea , as well as to the East China Sea and waters off Formosa . Decommissioning . She returned to the United States early in 1946 , was decommissioned on 7 June , and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Diego , California . She was reclassified MSF - 116 on 7 February 1955 . On 17 November 1967 , " Speed " was transferred to the Republic of Korea , and she served the South Korean Navy as " Sunchon " ( PCE - 1002 ) . Awards . " Speed " received seven battle star s for World War II service .