USS Sustain ( AM - 119 ) USS " Sustain " ( AM - 119 ) 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 . " Sustain " was laid down on 17 November 1941 by the American Ship Building Company , Cleveland , Ohio ; launched on 23 June 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . L . L . Dean ; and commissioned on 9 November 1942 , Lt . Comdr . M . H . Harris , USNR , in command . " Sustain " departed Cleveland , Ohio on 15 November and headed for Quebec to await the forming of a convoy which she was to escort . The convoy sailed on the 25th for Halifax , Nova Scotia . She departed there on 4 December 1942 with another convoy bound for Boston . After a six - week yard period , the minesweeper performed coastal convoy duty until 19 March 1943 . On that date , " Sustain " got underway with a Bermuda - bound convoy which , upon arrival , joined other ships there destined for North Africa . World War II North African operations . " Sustain " and the convoy stood out of port on 27 March and arrived at Oran , Algeria , on 13 April . The ship then began sweeping and patrol duty at the port of Ténès which lasted until 23 May . She returned to Oran and operated along the Algerian coast until 27 June when she joined a convoy for Tunis which arrived there two days later . Ten days were spent in final preparations for the landings on Sicily . The invasion fleet sortied on 8 July and , on the afternoon of the next day , " Sustain " and were detached to proceed ahead of it . Late that evening , they began sweeping approach channels and clearing a transport anchorage off the prospective landing beaches for the invasion armada which landed troops at Gela on the 10th . She swept mines and patrolled off the beaches until the end of the month when she returned to Bizerte . She picked up a resupply convoy there and with other ships of Mine Squadron ( MinRon ) 6 , escorted it to Palermo , where she swept and patrolled until 23 August when the squadron returned to Algeria . Participating in the invasion of Italy . " Sustain " stood out of Mers El Kébir on 5 September with Task Force ( TF ) 81 with a convoy en route to the Gulf of Salerno . She streamed her sweep gear on the evening of the 8th to clear the way for the landing of the Allied 5th Army the next morning . The remainder of September and the early part of October were spent in sweeping operations and " E - boat " patrols , occasionally broken by escort duty between Bizerte and Salerno . The latter part of October was spent at Bizerte undergoing repair . She then escorted convoys between Oran , Bizerte , Palermo , and Naples , Italy until the end of the year . " Sustain " was at Naples in mid - January 1944 and attached to an invasion fleet to participate in " Operation Shingle " , the amphibious landing of Allied forces 60 miles behind the German lines in the Anzio - Nettuno area . The morning of the landing , 22 January , she escorted landing craft to the beach . She then began anti - submarine and " E - boat " patrol duty outside the harbor . On 2 February , she escorted a convoy to Bizerte . On the 23rd , she joined another Anzio - bound convoy and , upon arrival there , resumed her former duties until 7 March . " Sustain " returned to Oran and was assigned to special convoy escort duty . Attacked by German submarine . " Sustain " was on such duty on 4 May when an enemy submarine was sighted by the French ship " Sénégalais " . She closed the scene but not before this submarine scored a torpedo hit on " Sénégalais " . In concert with , , and HMS " Blankney " , the submarine was sunk . " Sustain " rescued 30 survivors from the submarine . She continued escort duty until 23 June when she rejoined her squadron at Naples . She swept the coastal channels between Naples and Anzio and at Salerno before returning to Bizerte . Participating in Operation Dragoon . " Sustain " joined the largest invasion fleet ever assembled in the Mediterranean on 12 August to participate in " Operation Dragoon " , the invasion of southern France . She entered the transport area at St . Raphael in early morning on 15 August and patrolled that area as the assault waves were landed . " Sustain " continued on patrol and sweeping duty until 4 October at which time she returned to Bizerte via Naples , Italy . " Sustain " and her squadron joined a convoy of LST ' s and LCI ' s that sailed for the United States on 24 November . She arrived at Norfolk , Virginia , on 11 December 1944 and was refitted for duty in the $ 3 . Pacific Ocean operations . " Sustain " put to sea on 15 February 1945 en route to the Pacific war zone . She arrived at Coco Solo on the 22nd ; transited the canal on the 25th ; and arrived at Pearl Harbor with the other ships of MinRon 6 on 19 March . The ship received a final overhaul in the yard . At this time air search radar was installed . " Sustain " sailed for Eniwetok on 24 April as a convoy escort and thence to Guam . Sustain arrived at Apra Harbor , Guam , on 8 May and remained there until the end of the month when she sailed for Okinawa , arriving at Kerama Retto on 3 June and was assigned to antisubmarine patrol the remainder of the month . On 8 July , the minesweeper was detailed to sweep areas in the East China Sea . This duty lasted until 30 August when her area of operations was changed to Kagoshima , Kyūshū , to clear the bay so that occupation troops could be landed . After returning to Okinawa on 9 September for logistics , " Sustain " was ordered to sweep Bungo Suido . She swept that area from 24 September until 2 November when she steamed to Sasebo , Japan . During November and December , she swept mines in the East China Sea , off Takao , Formosa , and the southwest coast of that island . When that was completed , the ship sailed for Shanghai . She remained there from 23 December 1945 until 3 January 1946 when she set sail for the United States , via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor . Post - World War II activity . " Sustain " was given a pre - inactivation overhaul at San Diego after her return in February and on 17 June 1946 was placed in reserve , out of commission . " Sustain " was placed in commission again on 14 January 1952 and in April , she was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet for duty . She served that fleet along the U . S . East Coast and in the Mediterranean until 9 October 1954 when she was placed in reserve , in commission . On 2 February 1955 , she was placed in reserve , out of commission at Green Cove Springs , Florida . On 5 February 1955 , " Sustain " was reclassified from AM - 119 to MSF - 119 , Minesweeper Fleet ( steel - hulled ) . She was again redesignated MMC - 2 in 1958 . Decommissioning . " Sustain " was struck from the Navy List on 1 October 1959 and transferred to Norway on the same date . Awards . " Sustain " received eight battle star s for World War II service .