NEWTON trawler built 1928
Posted: Sun Oct 27, 2024 8:32 pm
I found in a book “Shipwrecks of the Cayman Islands” by Lawson Wood, an photo of one ship depict on the 1985 stamps of shipwrecks.
The 5c shows the NEWTON, her details and history follow below.
Built under yard No 1499 as a trawler by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, for the Massachusetts Trawling Co., Boston.
20 October 1928 launched as the SHAWMUT.
Tonnage 235 tons.
1928 Delivered to owners..
USS GOLDCREST (AM-80), a steel-hulled commercial trawler built under yard 1419 and launched on 20 September 1928 as MV SHAWMUT and delivered 1928 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy,
Massachusetts,
She was acquired by the United States Navy from the Massachusetts Trawling Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, on 29 November 1940, and converted to a minesweeper. The ship was commissioned as a naval trawler at the Boston Navy Yard on 15 May 1941.
Following shakedown training at Mine Warfare School, Yorktown, Virginia, GOLDCREST arrived New York on 10 August 1942 to base at Staten Island while serving as an inshore patrol and NROTC cadet school ship under the 3rd Naval District. On 24 August, she became flagship of Division 1 of the Inshore Patrol Force. In Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey, while on patrol 11 March 1943, she sank by gunfire three mines that had drifted from defensive minefields. On 29 March, she assisted a damaged merchantman off Staten Island.
Her patrol and school ship duties continued until 5 August 1945 when she transferred to Charleston, South Carolina, for minesweeping duty
End-of-War decommissioning
GOLDCREST was decommissioned on 12 December 1945 and was sold on 20 June 1946 to her former owner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_GOLDCREST_(AM-80)
GOLDCREST Class Minesweeper:
• The first GOLDCREST was laid down in 1928 as the steel hull trawler Shawmut by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, MA for the Massachusetts Trawling Co., Boston, MA
• Acquired by the Navy 29 November 1940 and began conversion to a minesweeper by the Bethlehem Steel Co., East Boston, MA
• Conversion completed 28 April 1941
• Renamed GOLDCREST 12 December 1940
• Commissioned USS GOLDCREST (AM 80), 15 May 1941 at the Boston Navy Yard
• In early 1942, the actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (LTJG, USNR) served as Executive Officer in GOLDCREST
• Decommissioned 12 December 1945
• Struck from the Naval Register 3 January 1946
• Sold to her former owner 20 June 1946
Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists transfer to the War Shipping Administration in September 1946
• Fate unknown.
Specifications:
• Displacement 400 t.
• Length 122' 5"
• Beam 23' 1"
• Draft 10' 11"
• Speed 11 kts.
• Complement 36
• Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
• Propulsion: One 600shp Atlas 6H M3358 diesel engine, no reduction gear, one shaft
• https://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02080.htm
1947 She was sold to NV Visscherij Mij “Batavia” . IJmuiden, Netherlands and renamed BATAVIA IJM 99. Notting more found on Netherlands sources.
1955 She was sold, and renamed MINNIE, owner and flag unknown.
1960 Renamed in NEWTON,
The already mentioned book gives: During the grounding she was under Jamaican ownership when she first ran aground off George Town in November 1977, she was pulled off, but after floating she was grounded again along the South Shore of Grand Cayman and quickly broke up over the winter, due to the excessive bad weather that year.
(From the BATAVIA I found a photo and by comparing with the stamp she is not much altered.)
Cayman Islands 1985 5c sg 609, Scott? (Stamp image Colnect Stamps.)
The 5c shows the NEWTON, her details and history follow below.
Built under yard No 1499 as a trawler by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, for the Massachusetts Trawling Co., Boston.
20 October 1928 launched as the SHAWMUT.
Tonnage 235 tons.
1928 Delivered to owners..
USS GOLDCREST (AM-80), a steel-hulled commercial trawler built under yard 1419 and launched on 20 September 1928 as MV SHAWMUT and delivered 1928 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy,
Massachusetts,
She was acquired by the United States Navy from the Massachusetts Trawling Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, on 29 November 1940, and converted to a minesweeper. The ship was commissioned as a naval trawler at the Boston Navy Yard on 15 May 1941.
Following shakedown training at Mine Warfare School, Yorktown, Virginia, GOLDCREST arrived New York on 10 August 1942 to base at Staten Island while serving as an inshore patrol and NROTC cadet school ship under the 3rd Naval District. On 24 August, she became flagship of Division 1 of the Inshore Patrol Force. In Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey, while on patrol 11 March 1943, she sank by gunfire three mines that had drifted from defensive minefields. On 29 March, she assisted a damaged merchantman off Staten Island.
Her patrol and school ship duties continued until 5 August 1945 when she transferred to Charleston, South Carolina, for minesweeping duty
End-of-War decommissioning
GOLDCREST was decommissioned on 12 December 1945 and was sold on 20 June 1946 to her former owner.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_GOLDCREST_(AM-80)
GOLDCREST Class Minesweeper:
• The first GOLDCREST was laid down in 1928 as the steel hull trawler Shawmut by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, MA for the Massachusetts Trawling Co., Boston, MA
• Acquired by the Navy 29 November 1940 and began conversion to a minesweeper by the Bethlehem Steel Co., East Boston, MA
• Conversion completed 28 April 1941
• Renamed GOLDCREST 12 December 1940
• Commissioned USS GOLDCREST (AM 80), 15 May 1941 at the Boston Navy Yard
• In early 1942, the actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. (LTJG, USNR) served as Executive Officer in GOLDCREST
• Decommissioned 12 December 1945
• Struck from the Naval Register 3 January 1946
• Sold to her former owner 20 June 1946
Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists transfer to the War Shipping Administration in September 1946
• Fate unknown.
Specifications:
• Displacement 400 t.
• Length 122' 5"
• Beam 23' 1"
• Draft 10' 11"
• Speed 11 kts.
• Complement 36
• Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
• Propulsion: One 600shp Atlas 6H M3358 diesel engine, no reduction gear, one shaft
• https://www.navsource.org/archives/11/02080.htm
1947 She was sold to NV Visscherij Mij “Batavia” . IJmuiden, Netherlands and renamed BATAVIA IJM 99. Notting more found on Netherlands sources.
1955 She was sold, and renamed MINNIE, owner and flag unknown.
1960 Renamed in NEWTON,
The already mentioned book gives: During the grounding she was under Jamaican ownership when she first ran aground off George Town in November 1977, she was pulled off, but after floating she was grounded again along the South Shore of Grand Cayman and quickly broke up over the winter, due to the excessive bad weather that year.
(From the BATAVIA I found a photo and by comparing with the stamp she is not much altered.)
Cayman Islands 1985 5c sg 609, Scott? (Stamp image Colnect Stamps.)