| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Fancy (AM-234) |
| Builder | Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company, Seattle, Washington |
| Laid down | 12 May 1944 |
| Launched | 4 September 1944 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. E. L. Skeel |
| Commissioned | 13 December 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 21 May 1945[1] |
| Fate | Transferred to the Soviet Union, 21 May 1945[1] |
| Reclassified | MSF-234, 7 February 1955 |
| Stricken | 1 January 1983[citation needed] |
| History | |
 Soviet Union | |
| Name | T-272[2] |
| Acquired | 21 May 1945[1] |
| Commissioned | 21 May 1945[1] |
| Refit | Converted to naval trawler, 1948[citation needed] |
| Renamed | Vyuga, 1948[citation needed] |
| Fate | Scrapped 1960[3] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Admirable-class minesweeper |
| Displacement | 650 tons |
| Length | 184 ft 6 in (56.24 m) |
| Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Draft | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 14.8 knots (27.4 km/h) |
| Complement | 104 |
| Armament |
|
USS Fancy (AM-234) was an Admirable-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy during World War II and in commission from 1944 to 1945. In 1945, she was transferred to the Soviet Union and served in the Soviet Navy after that as T-272[3] and Vyuga.[citation needed]
- ^ a b c d The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Fancy article states that the U.S. Navy transferred Fancy to the Soviet Navy on 20 May 1945 and decommissioned her on 21 May 1945, and NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive Fancy (MSF 234) ex-AM-234 and hazegray.org Fancy repeat this. However, more recent research in Russell, Richard A., Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan, Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1997, ISBN 0-945274-35-1, p. 39, which includes access to Soviet-era records unavailable during the Cold War, reports that the transfer date was 21 May 1945 and, according to Russell, Project Hula ships were decommissioned by the U.S. Navy simultaneously with their transfer to and commissioning by the Soviet Navy – see photo captions on p. 24 regarding the transfers of various large infantry landing craft (LCI(L)s) and information on p. 27 about the transfer of USS Coronado (PF-38), which Russell says typified the transfer process – indicating that Fancy's U.S. Navy decommissioning, transfer, and Soviet Navy commissioning all occurred simultaneously in a single ceremony on 21 May 1945. As sources, Russell cites Department of the Navy, Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels Volume II, 1 January 1949, (NAVSHIPS 250-012), Washington, DC: Bureau of Ships, 1949; and Berezhnoi, S. S., Flot SSSR: Korabli i suda lendliza: Spravochnik ("The Soviet Navy: Lend-Lease Ships and Vessels: A Reference"), St. Petersburg, Russia: Belen, 1994.
- ^ NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive Fancy (MSF 234) ex-AM-234 and hazegray.org Fancy state that Fancy was named T-271 in Soviet service, but research in Russell, Richard A., Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan, Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1997, ISBN 0-945274-35-1, pp. 39-40, which includes access to Soviet-era records unavailable during the Cold War, finds that the ship's Soviet name was T-272 and that it was ex-USS Disdain (AM-222), transferred the following day, that had the Soviet name T-271. As sources, Russell cites Department of the Navy, Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels Volume II, 1 January 1949, (NAVSHIPS 250-012), Washington, DC: Bureau of Ships, 1949; and Berezhnoi, S. S., Flot SSSR: Korabli i suda lendliza: Spravochnik ("The Soviet Navy: Lend-Lease Ships and Vessels: A Reference"), St. Petersburg, Russia: Belen, 1994.
- ^ a b Russell, Richard A., Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan, Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1997, ISBN 0-945274-35-1, p. 39.