USS Chickadee
USS Chickadee (AM-59) was an of the United States Navy, named after the Chickadee, a family of small passerine birds which appear in North America and Africa. Chickadee was launched on 20 July 1942 at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan; sponsored by Mrs. George Buchanan Coale (Mary Woolfolk Rule Coale). She was commissioned on 9 November 1942 and reported to the Atlantic Fleet. Service history World War II Between 15 February and 4 May 1943, Chickadee voyaged from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, to Casablanca, Morocco on convoy escort duty, then participated in anti-submarine warfare against German U-boats and escorted Allied coastal convoys along the African and Mediterranean coasts until 19 June. Chickadee sailed out of Norfolk and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City as an escort for vessels sailing to Iceland or the Caribbean between 7 July 1943 and 2 March 1944. Chickadee cleared Naval Station Charleston, South Carolina, on 7 April for Milford Haven, Wales, arriving there on 12 May. For the remainder of the month, the minesweeper engaged in training exercises for the coming invasion of Europe. Arriving off Normandy on 5 June 1944, Chickadee swept fire support channels into Baie de la Seine