USS Competent (AM-316)

Competent (third ship from right) among six other minesweepers and mothership LST-735.
History
United States
Name	HMS Amelia (BAM-3)
Builder	General Engineering & Dry Dock Company, Alameda, California
Laid down	19 August 1942
Launched	30 January 1943
Renamed	USS Competent (AM-315), 23 January 1943
Commissioned	10 November 1943
Decommissioned	30 January 1947
Recommissioned	29 February 1952
Reclassified	MSF-316, 7 February 1955
Decommissioned	15 April 1955
Stricken	1972
Honors and awards	5 battle stars (World War II) 2 battle stars (Korea)
Fate	Sold to Mexico, September 1972
History
Mexico
Name	ARM Ponciano Arriaga
Namesake	Ponciano Arriaga
Acquired	February 1973
Reclassified	G04
Stricken	1988
Fate	Unknown
General characteristics
Class and type	Auk-class minesweeper
Displacement	890 long tons (904 t)
Length	221 ft 3 in (67.44 m)
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft	10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	100 officers and enlisted
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber gun 2 × 40 mm guns 2 × 20 mm guns 2 × Depth charge tracks

USS Competent (AM-316/MSF-316) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy. Competent was a U.S. Navy oceangoing minesweeper, named after the word "competent", meaning adequate, capable, or fit.

HMS Amelia (BAM-3) was launched 30 January 1943 by General Engineering and Dry Dock Co., Alameda, California sponsored by Miss M. S. Upton; retained for use by the U.S. Navy; assigned the name Competent and reclassified AM-316, 23 January 1943; and commissioned 10 November 1943.

Competent arrived in Pearl Harbor on 21 January 1944. Eight days later she departed to escort munitions carrier USS Sangay (AE-10) to Majuro, where Competent swept mines and acted as harbor entrance control and pilot ship from 5 February to 31 March. Returning to Pearl Harbor 7 April she continued to escort convoys to the Marshalls until 15 July. Competent reached Port Purvis on Florida Island, in the Solomons, on 24 August for exercises in the area until 8 September when she sailed to Kossol Passage to sweep and patrol the west entrance during the invasion of Peleliu. She escorted a convoy back to Port Purvis 13 October, and on 2 November departed for a U.S. West Coast overhaul.

On 8 April 1945 Competent cleared San Francisco, California, with a convoy bound for Okinawa. From her arrival 20 May she patrolled and screened the transports, then swept mines from 5 July to 25 August. During September she lay at Okinawa, then swept off Chusan Archipelago during October. She operated out of Sasebo, Japan, on various duties in support of the occupation until 6 March 1946 when she cleared for San Francisco, California, arriving 21 April. She operated on the west coast until placed out of commission in reserve 30 January 1947 at Pacific Reserve Fleet, Long Beach.

Recommissioned 29 February 1952 as a result of the Korean War, Competent put to sea from Long Beach, California, 7 July and arrived at Sasebo, Japan, 7 August. From this port she swept and patrolled Korean waters until returning to Long Beach, California 5 February 1953. During her second Far Eastern tour from 5 October 1953 to 2 June 1954, she patrolled with task force TF 95 off Korea to preserve the truce.

Reclassified MSF-316, 7 February 1955, Competent operated along the west coast until she was decommissioned and placed in reserve 15 April 1955. After seventeen years in "mothballs", she was sold to Mexico in September 1972. She served in the Mexican Navy as ARM Ponciano Arriaga until 1988.

Competent earned five battle stars for World War II service and two battle stars for the Korean War.

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Photo gallery of USS Competent (AM-316/MSF-316) at NavSource Naval History
• USS Competent (AM-316, later MSF-316), 1943-1972
• Welcome To The Mine Sweeper - USS Competent (AM-316)
• USS Competent (AM-316) - US Navy - Korean War Project Archived 9 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
• uboat.net - Allied Warships - Minesweeper USS Competent of the Auk class
• March 1945 Deck Log Archived 22 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• The Daybook (PDF) Archived 7 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine