| Navy | The US Navy |
| Type | Minesweeper |
| Class | Auk |
| Pennant | AM 106 |
| Built by | Pennsylvania Shipyards Inc. (Beaumont, Texas, U.S.A.) |
| Ordered | 1 Apr 1941 |
| Laid down | 15 Nov 1941 |
| Launched | 16 Aug 1942 |
| Commissioned | 3 Apr 1943 |
| Lost | 22 Jan 1944 |
| Loss position | 41° 24'N, 12° 44'E |
| History | USS Portent (Lt. Howard Carlton Plummer, USNR) is mined and sunk south-east of Anzio, Italy in position 41º24'N, 12º44E'. |
Commands listed for USS Portent (AM 106)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt. Howard Carlton Plummer, USNR | 3 Apr 1943 | 22 Jan 1944 (1) |
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Notable events involving Portent include:
Survivors of Portent were picked up by USS Brooklyn (2)
15 Nov 1943
Convoy KMF 26.
This convoy departed the Clyde on 15 November 1943 and arrived at Alexandria / Port Said on 30 November 1943 / 1 December 1943.
This convoy was made up of the following transports; Arundel Castle (British, 19118 GRT, built 1921), Cameronia (British, 16297 GRT, built 1920), Chinese Prince (British, 9485 GRT, built 1943), City of Lincoln (British, 8039 GRT, built 1938), Clan Campbell (British, 9545 GRT, built 1943), Dempo (British, 17024 GRT, built 1931), Duchess of Bedford (British, 20123 GRT, built 1928), Dunnottar Castle (British, 15007 GRT, built 1936), Franconia (British, 20175 GRT, built 1923), Highland Princess (British, 14133 GRT, built 1930), Monarch of Bermuda (British, 22424 GRT, built 1931), Orion (British, 23371 GRT, built 1935), Ranchi (British, 16738 GRT, built 1925), Reina del Pacifico (British, 17702 GRT, built 1931), Samanco (British, 8336 GRT, built 1943), Samaria (British, 19597 GRT, built 1921), Sarmiento (British, 8335 GRT, built 1943) and Scythia (British, 19761 GRT, built 1920).
On departure the convoy was escorted by the light cruiser HMS Birmingham (Capt. H.W. Williams, RN) (actually joined on the 16th), sloops HMS Pelican (Cdr. J.S. Dalison, DSO, RN, S.O. of A/S escort), HMS Woodpecker (Lt.Cdr. H.L. Pryse, RNR) and the frigates HMS Evenlode (T/A/Lt.Cdr. A.L. Turner, RNR), HMS Jed (Lt.Cdr. R.C. Freaker, DSO and Bar, RD, RNR), HMS Rother (Lt.Cdr. W.R. Hickey, RNR) and HMS Spey (Lt.Cdr. B.A. Rogers, RD, RNR).
In the afternoon of 19 November, HMS Birmingham fuelled HMS Spey as the frigate had two out of four fuel tanks contaminated with seawater drastically effecting her range. With this underway refuelling she was able to continue on to Algiers.
During the morning of 20 November, the frigate HMS Rother also received some fuel from HMS Birmingham.
On passing the Straits of Gibraltar, HMS Birmingham parted company with the convoy and entered Gibraltar harbour. The AA cruiser HMS Colombo (Capt. D.H. Hall-Thompson, RN) and the destroyers HMS Anthony (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Wallace, DSC, RN) and HMS Brilliant (Lt.Cdr. J. Smallwood, RN) joined the convoy coming from Gibraltar. Also the submarine HMS Stonehenge (Lt. D.S.M. Verschoyle-Campbell, DSC and Bar, RN) joined the convoy for passage to Alexandria.
On the 25th, HMS Anthony and HMS Spey parted company with the convoy.
Off Oran / Mers-el-Kebir the transports Egra (British, 5108 GRT, built 1911), Karoa (British, 7009 GRT, built 1915) and Rohna (British, 8602 GRT, built 1926) joined the convoy. They were escorted by the destroyer escorts USS Frederick C. Davis (Lt.Cdr. O.W. Goepner, USNR), USS Herbert C. Jones (T/Lt.Cdr. A.W. Gardes, Jr., USN) and the minesweepers USS Pioneer (Lt. L.E. Rogers, Jr., USNR) and USS Portent (Lt. H.C. Plummer, USNR).
Off Algiers transport Monarch of Bermuda and the escorts HMS Brilliant, HMS Pelican, HMS Woodpecker, HMS Evenlode, HMS Jed, HMS Rother parted company with the convoy while the escort destroyers HMS Atherstone (Lt.Cdr. E.N. Wood, DSC, RNVR), HMS Catterick (Lt.Cdr. A. Tyson, RN), HMS Cleveland (Lt.Cdr. J.K. Hamilton, RN), RHS Miaoulis and ORP Slazak (Cdr. R. Nalecz-Tyminski, ORP) joined the convoy.
In the afternoon of 26 November the convoy was attacked by German aircraft and the transport Rohna was sunk by a glider bomb in position 36°56'N, 05°20'E. 1149 crew and passengers (mostly US troops) were killed in this attack.
Off Philipeville the transports Cameronia, Clan Campbell and Duchess of Bedford parted company with the convoy to proceed to that place while the transport Derbyshire joined the convoy coming from there.
On 27 November first HMS Colombo and later USS Frederick C. Davis and USS Herbert C. Jones parted company with the convoy to proceed to Bizerta.
The remainder of the convoy proceeded towards Alexandria / Port Said arriving there on 30 November / 1 December 1943.
Sources
- http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/mine/am106.htm
- Personal communication