USS Champion (AM-314)

The third USS Champion (BAM-1/AM-314/MSF-314) was an Auk-class minesweeper of the United States Navy.

The ship was the first of 32 vessels of the Auk class ordered for transfer to Great Britain under Lend-Lease, and designated British Minesweeper HMS Akbar (BAM-1). Twelve of these ships were retained for service in the U.S. Navy.

Launched on 12 December 1942 by General Engineering & Dry Dock Company, Alameda, California; redesignated USS Champion (AM-314) on 23 January 1943, and commissioned on 8 September 1943, Lieutenant Commander J. H. Howard, Jr., USNR, in command.

World War II Pacific operations

Clearing San Diego, California, 7 December 1943, Champion arrived at Pearl Harbor 13 December. Between 8 January and 4 March 1944, she was assigned the task of guarding vital shipping between Pearl Harbor and San Francisco, California. More direct support to frontline operations came from 18 March to 10 April, when she escorted two resupply convoys to Tarawa, after which she screened a convoy to Kwajalein from 19 April to 7 May in support of the Marshalls operation. After a short overhaul, she sailed to Saipan for minesweeping operations and local escort duty in late June, then returned to Pearl Harbor for more extensive overhaul. From 13 September to 17 November, she guarded convoys from Pearl Harbor to Eniwetok and Saipan, before training for the Iwo Jima operation.