USS Vigilance (AM-324) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Upon her arrival at Pearl Harbor on 11 May, Vigilance delivered 111 bags of mail to the Fleet Post Office and, three days later, got underway with Triumph (AM-323) for the Marshall Islands.

Vigilance departed Majuro at 0800 on the 26th to return to Hawaii, intercepted Megrez (AK-126) en route, and relieved PC-548 of escorting that cargo ship for the remainder of the voyage to Oahu.

After arriving at Pearl Harbor on 2 June, Vigilance underwent upkeep and maintenance before moving to Brown's Camp, Oahu, for experimental minesweeping evolutions which she conducted into mid-June.

During the second of two more round-trip runs from Pearl Harbor to the Marshalls, Vigilance suffered an engine casualty - a damaged exhaust manifold - that was beyond the capacity of the ship's force to handle.

Making port back at Pearl Harbor on 5 October, the ship underwent more repairs and maintenance work and tested minesweeping gear off Brown's Camp.

Five minutes before sunrise on 20 November, while on patrol station number 4, Vigilance sighted a small wake 700 yards (640 m) broad on the starboard quarter.

Southbound on her patrol, the minesweeper had swung wide to avoid fouling the screen of an outward-bound task group of three destroyers, a cruiser, and other vessels when she made the sighting.

For the latter part of February, the minesweeper served as submarine listening watch and harbor entrance patrol vessel at Kossol before she returned to Ulithi.

Vigilance got underway for Nansei Shoto on 19 March and steamed in cruising formation with Mine Division (MinDiv) 11, on the starboard quarter of USS Terror.

Arriving in area V-l, about 35 miles (56 km) southwest of Okinawa, on 24 March, Vigilance and her sister minesweepers swept for moored mines until nightfall when they retired.

While Vigilance was patrolling five miles (8 km) south of Kerama Retto on the afternoon of the 12th, a "flash red" alert was announced, and the ship's lookouts soon noted the presence of many enemy planes — all out of gun range.

Suddenly, at 1456, the minesweeper noted black smoke pouring from Whitehurst (DE-634), a destroyer escort that had just been hit by a kamikaze while patrolling an adjacent sector.

Vigilance's 20-millimeter guns commenced firing on the "Val" when it was slightly abaft the beam, and the enemy plane then turned toward the ship before reversing course and heading for Wilson (DD-408).

Vigilance fished three Taluga sailors from the water, who all agreed with the minesweeper's observers that the ship's gunnery had proved accurate and effective in deflecting the suicide plane.

Vigilance located three swimming sailors blown overboard from the CVE and directed a nearby LCV(P) to pick them up and transfer them to a high-speed transport.

England, on station Baker 11 — three miles northeast of the minecraft, had attained fame throughout the fleet in the spring of 1944 by sinking six Japanese I-boats and earning a Presidential Unit Citation.

Upon sighting the suicider, the destroyer escort started a hard right turn to present her beam to the attacker while her 3-inch (76 mm) antiaircraft battery pounded away.

Vigilance, too, contributed to the flak above the twisting destroyer escort; gunfire from the ships blew off one wing of the suicider but failed to deflect the kamikaze from its one-way mission.

As Vigilance attempted to overtake the stricken escort ship, her crew broke out fire and rescue equipment on the main deck and made the mess hall ready to receive wounded below.

After 30 minutes of hard work, the forward 3-inch (76 mm) magazine was reported to be half flooded, while the fires in the pilothouse, radio room, and on the flying bridge were extinguished.

After two hours had elapsed - a time when the frequent appearance of Japanese aircraft prohibited the use of lights and made the handling of lines, hoses, and damage control equipment difficult - Vigilance finally succeeded in extinguishing USS England's fires and took the destroyer escort under tow.

Vigilance remained at anchor for the remainder of the day, replenishing medical supplies and damage control gear, before getting underway on the 11th to sweep for mines in the vicinity of Tori Shima, in company with MinDiv 11.

She moored alongside Briareus (AR-12) on the 10th for availability and, while her crew was enjoying movies on the forecastle that evening, she received the word that Japan was ready to surrender — news greeted with great rejoicing by all hands.

She remained at Buckner Bay from 1 to 7 September and got underway at noon on the 8th, bound for Wakayama, Japan, to support the occupation of the erstwhile enemy's home islands.

Eventually, Vigilance got underway and maneuvered inside the confused harbor before finally dropping anchor for the night to ride out the storm as it blew itself out.

After provisioning and fueling small craft to capacity, the minesweeper departed Tsu Ko at 1155 on 13 October and arrived at Wakanoura Wan early the following morning.

Vigilance operated as pilot boat at the Yokkaichi anchorage, anchoring nightly in the Matoya Ko, rendezvousing with vessels off the harbor and leading them through the minefields to port.

After performing similar operations in the Nagoya area through November, Vigilance departed Japanese waters on 17 December 1945, via Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor, bound for the United States.

She also had the honor of being recommended for a Navy Unit Commendation, and her commanding officer, Lt. Jackson L. Morton, USNR, was awarded a Silver Star for his courage and level-headed action under fire.