USS Bobolink ( AMS - 2 ) USS " Bobolink " ( AMS - 2 / YMS - 164 ) was a acquired by the U . S . Navy for the task of removing mine s that had been placed in the water to prevent ships from passing . " YMS - 164 " was laid down on 24 April 1942 at Benton Harbor , Michigan , by the Dachel - Carter Shipbuilding Corporation ; launched on 28 November 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . Anna Arny ; and commissioned on 14 April 1943 , with Lt . ( jg . ) Robert W . Cumming , USNR , in command . Operational history . During the first 15 months of her active service , the motor minesweeper operated along the east coast of the United States . In July 1944 , she voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean to participate in the invasion of southern France and , but for refueling and replenishment breaks at Corsica , remained off that coast sweeping mines from the first assaults on the morning of 15 August until 21 September . At that time , she moved to Palermo , Sicily , where she performed additional minesweeping duties . " YMS - 164 " continued to serve at various locations in the Mediterranean through the end of hostilities in Europe . The minesweeper headed back to the United States late in June 1945 and arrived in New York on Independence Day of that year . Not long thereafter , " YMS - 164 " moved to the U . S . West Coast and ultimately to duty at Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , where she was serving at the end of World War II . Back on the west coast by the late spring of 1946 , she was decommissioned at San Diego , California , on 7 June 1946 . While in reserve at San Diego , the minesweeper was named " Bobolink " and redesignated " AMS - 2 " on 17 February 1947 . Though still out of commission , she served as a training ship for naval reservist s in the 12th Naval District from November 1948 to May 1950 . " Bobolink " was recommissioned at San Diego on 9 May 1950 , and soon returned to active operations out of Pearl Harbor as a unit of the Pacific Fleet Mine Force . That assignment lasted until July 1953 when she returned to duty at San Diego for five months of operations from that port . In January 1954 , she steamed via the Panama Canal to Charleston , South Carolina , where she became a unit of Mine Division ( MinDiv ) 43 . Charleston served as her base of operations until March 1954 when she moved to the Mine Countermeasures Station at Panama City , Florida , located on the Gulf Coast of western Florida . That occupation prevailed for a year . In February 1955 , " Bobolink " returned to Charleston to begin conversion to a coastal mine hunter . On 7 February 1955 , she was redesignated " MHC 44 " . The modifications took about seven months . She then conducted refresher training out of Norfolk , Virginia , from October to December before reporting for duty to the Commandant , 1st Naval District . Operations out of Boston , Massachusetts , and along the Atlantic coast occupied her for the next two years . On 2 December 1957 , " Bobolink " was decommissioned at Green Cove Springs , Florida , and was berthed with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet group there . She remained in reserve until her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 January 1960 . " Bobolink " earned one battle star for service in World War II as " YMS 164 " .