[2] In the United States and some other countries there was a coastal defense "torpedo service" that required vessels capable of placing the devices and associated firing cables as early as the late 19th century.

These were to emplace the controlled minefields that were a major part of the Endicott program that was the origin of the Coast Artillery Corps.

The USAMPS was formally ended in 1954 by Congress in the Warrant Officer Personnel Act some five years after its vessels had been dispersed.

The ship required suitable rigging to lift the mines and anchors along with associated cables over the side for planting.

[11] By the early days of the 20th century the Army's experience with some of these vessels indicated a need for a design specifically adapted to the work.

[4][5] The entire concept of massive fixed fortifications was shown to be obsolete in the early days of World War II.

One of the M 1 (1942–43) ships, General Samuel M. Mills of 1942, was retained by the Army and assigned to other missions while another was sold directly to commercial interests and became a fishing vessel.

[12] By early 1944 most of the 1942–43 ships were being transferred to the U.S. Navy to be converted into a class termed the Auxiliary Minelayer (ACM/MMA) with some of those vessels already working in the European Theater or headed to Japan when the war ended.

A number of the pre-World War II ships became the Coast Guard Speedwell class through the U.S. Lighthouse Service (USLHS) after a 1920 reduction in the Army.

A number of the World War II-constructed vessels followed their predecessors of the USLHS/USCG in going from Navy to the Coast Guard as postwar buoy tenders.

These were to emplace and maintain the controlled minefields that were a major part of the Endicott program that was the origin of the Coast Artillery Corps.

These ships were designed to plant mines but lacked full, specialized capability to lay and maintain the minefield control cables.

The USAMP Ellery W. Niles, captioned in a photo as "The last word in mine planters"[3][42] and a major change into a more modern and capable form.

[44] The requirement for more ships capable of planting the mines and installing and maintaining the control and communications cables of the coastal fortifications was underway on the entry of the United States into WW II.

Sixteen new vessels were planned or started by that time at the Marietta Manufacturing yard at Point Pleasant, West Virginia.