The USS Mirth (AM-265) was an Admirable-class minesweeper constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. Laid down on July 31, 1943, by the American Shipbuilding Company in Lorain, Ohio, she was launched on December 24, 1943, and commissioned on August 12, 1944. The vessel measured typical specifications for an Admirable-class minesweeper, designed for clearing mines and antisubmarine warfare, although specific dimensions are not provided in the source. Following her commissioning, USS Mirth underwent shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay before deploying to Bermuda in late November 1944. During her brief operational stint there, she was tasked with sweeping channels and conducting antisubmarine patrols to secure the vital transatlantic convoy routes. In December 1944, she operated from St. George's Bay, Bermuda, escorting vessels and ensuring safe passage into the Atlantic. In early 1945, USS Mirth traveled to New York City, remaining in the area through January before heading through the Panama Canal in February en route to the Pacific theater. However, before she could see Pacific service, she was selected for transfer to the Soviet Navy under Project Hula, a secret program to bolster Soviet naval forces against Japan. Arriving at Cold Bay, Alaska, in April 1945, she underwent training with her new Soviet crew, after which she was decommissioned from the U.S. Navy on May 21, 1945, and transferred instantly to the Soviet Union, where she was designated as a tralshik ("minesweeper") and renamed T-277. Serving in the Soviet Far East, she was converted into a naval trawler in 1948 and remained in Soviet service. Despite negotiations in the late 1940s and 1950s regarding the return of transferred ships, Mirth was never reclaimed by the U.S. Navy. Instead, she was scrapped in 1960, although her existence remained officially listed until she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on January 1, 1983. Her service exemplifies the wartime cooperation and subsequent Cold War tensions that affected many vessels transferred under Lend-Lease.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.