USS Harkness ( AMCU - 12 ) USS " Harkness " ( AMCU - 12 / YMS - 242 ) was a acquired by the U . S . Navy for the task of removing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent ships from passing . " Harkness " was laid down as " YMS - 242 " by Tacoma Boat Building Co . , Tacoma , Washington , 1 June 1942 ; launched 10 October 1942 ; commissioned 27 March 1943 , Lt . ( j . g . ) H . S . Meredith in command . Operational history . World War II service . After shakedown along the California coast , " YMS - 242 " departed San Diego , California , 20 August 1943 for duty in the Western Pacific Ocean . Steaming via Pearl Harbor , she conducted mine sweeping patrols in the Marshall and Solomon islands throughout the next year . As American amphibious forces swept over the Mariannas , she swept for mines and made reconnaissance patrols during the summer and fall of 1944 . Following the conquest of the Mariannas , she returned to Pearl Harbor 25 December before sailing to the U . S . West Coast for conversion to a surveying ship . After conversion by South Coast Shipbuilding Co . , Newport Beach , California , she was named " Harkness " and reclassified " AGS - 12 " on 24 March 1945 . The following month she returned to the Western Pacific where she conducted survey operations in the Marshalls and at Okinawa . After the end of World War II , she sailed to Japanese waters for a month of survey work . She returned to Guam from Nagoya , Japan , 4 January 1946 ; then sailed 10 January for the United States via the Marshalls and Pearl Harbor , reaching San Diego 26 February . She sailed 29 March for the U . S . East Coast ; touched at Acapulco , Mexico , Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and Norfolk , Virginia ; and arrived New York 8 May . Reclassified as AGSC - 12 . Following overhaul , " Harkness " departed 25 July for Miami , Florida , and arrived 29 July to reclassify as " AGSC - 12 " . For more than 3 years she operated out of Miami , participating in extensive ocean surveys from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Atlantic Ocean . During much of 1947 she patrolled the Mexican coast off Vera Cruz , Mexico . " Harkness " surveyed coastal waters off Labrador and Newfoundland from July to October 1948 and 1949 ; and survey work continued for the first 5 months of 1950 in the Caribbean between Trinidad and Venezuela . She returned to New York later in the year and decommissioned 22 September 1950 . Converted into a minehunter . " Harkness " was converted to a minehunter by Brooklyn Navy Yard ; reclassified " AMCU - 12 " on 18 August 1951 ; and recommissioned 5 September 1951 , Lt . John M . Bohanon in command . Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet Mine Force , she departed New York 2 July 1952 and arrived Norfolk , Virginia , the next day . The next year she steamed to Charleston , South Carolina , and Key West , Florida , and Panama City , Florida , while involved with training exercises and other operations . Assigned along the Atlantic Coast to the 5th Naval District in October 1953 , " Harkness " again participated in training operations , primarily in the Virginia Capes Operation Area , finally steaming to Newport , Rhode Island , during June 1954 for channel clearance operations . Reclassified " MHC - 12 " on 1 February 1955 , she continued her part in numerous mine clearing exercises , in July 1957 even operating in Cuban waters out of Guantánamo Bay and Havana , Cuba . Decommissioning . " Harkness " departed Little Creek , Virginia , 30 January 1958 and arrived Green Cove Springs , Florida , via Jacksonville , Florida , 3 February . She decommissioned 2 April 1958 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . Her name was struck from the Naval Register 1 November 1959 . Awards and honors . " Harkness " received one battle star for World War II service .