United States Navy

Submarine Tenders

USS Finch

 After training and operations with a submarine bell, Finch sailed from New York 9 August 1919 for Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland. Here she based for 2 months of duty removing the vast number of mines laid in the North Sea during World War I. Finch returned to Charleston 29 November 1920, and on 3 January 1920 sailed for San Pedro, Calif., where from 1 March to 29 August she was in reduced commission. Modernized, she sailed from San Francisco 20 August 1921 for duty with the Asiatic Fleet, and for the next 20 years, served in the Philippines in the winter and out of the China base at Chefoo in the summer. Her duties were varied, and included towing and salvage work, as well as participation in the Yangtze River Patrol. She joined in fleet exercises, and as war tension heightened, played a part in protecting American citizens and interests in the Far East.

Further note:
Not recorded in the Finch's DANFS entry - however recorded in several other records - including- USS Rainbow's DANFS entry, as well as records of Submarine Division 18 boats: In September 1921 Finch was assigned as tender to Submarine Division 18. As Finch wasn't much larger than the "S" class boats she was tending - she was often "assisted" by Rainbow (AS 7). Submarine Division 18 sailed for the West Coast on 29 October, 1924, allowing Finch resumed her traditional duties (as described above).

 In 1941, she began work in intensive development exercises with submarine and mine groups in the Philippines, and as war came closer, spent December on patrol in the Taiwan Straits. On 9 April 1942, while moored at the eastern point of Corregidor, Finch was damaged by the near miss of a Japanese bomb, her seams opening and fragments of the bomb piercing her hull. The entire crew landed safely, and Finch was abandoned to sink the next day, 10 April 1942.

 Finch received one battle star for World War II service.

{History from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships}