HMS Tourmaline (J339)

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History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Tourmaline (J339)
Builder:	Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation, Chickasaw, Alabama
Laid down:	1 January 1942, as Usage (AM-130)
Launched:	4 October 1942
Completed:	7 June 1943, and transferred to the UK under Lend-Lease
Fate:	Returned to the US, January 1947; Transferred to the Foreign Liquidation Commission and sold to Turkey;
History
Turkey
Name:	TCG Çardak (M507)
Decommissioned:	1974
Fate:	Unknown
General characteristics
Class & type:	Catherine-class minesweeper
Displacement:	890 long tons (904 t)
Length:	221 ft 3 in (67.44 m)
Beam:	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draught:	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;

HMS Tourmaline (J339) was a Catherine-class minesweeper of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Originally planned as USS Usage (AM-130), of the United States Navy's Auk class, she was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease.

Career

Usage was laid down on 1 January 1942 at Chickasaw, Alabama, by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 4 October 1942; and transferred to the United Kingdom under lend-lease on 7 June 1943.

Usage served with the Royal Navy as HMS Tourmaline (J339) in the Atlantic Ocean in World War II. She was returned to United States custody in January 1947, struck from the Navy list, and transferred to the Foreign Liquidation Commission for disposition. Sold to Turkey, she served with the Turkish Navy under the name Çardak until 1974.

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

Photo gallery of Usage (AM 130)/HMS Tourmaline (J 339) at NavSource Naval History
U-boat.net - USS Usage (AM 130)