USS Triumph (AM-323) was a World War II of the United States Navy. The ship was laid down as HMS Espoir (BAM-23) for the Royal Navy on 27 October 1942 at Seattle, Washington, by the Associated Shipbuilding Corp. The ship was taken over by the United States Navy in late 1942 or early 1943; named USS Triumph and designated AM-323 on 23 January 1943. It was launched on 25 February 1943; and commissioned on 3 February 1944. In 1961 it was transferred to the Norwegian Navy and served as Brage until 1978 World War II Pacific operations Following outfitting at Seattle, Washington, and shakedown training along the California coast, Triumph stood out of San Francisco, California, on 1 May as a unit in the escort of an Oahu-bound convoy. She arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 10th and, after a five-day layover, joined the screen of a convoy bound for the Marshall Islands. She entered the lagoon at Majuro on 25 May; two days later, headed back to Hawaii with 24 passengers embarked; and reached Pearl Harbor on 2 June. She got underway again late in the month to escort another convoy to the Marshalls. She reentered Pearl Harbor on 16 July and prepared for her first deployment in the combat zone. On 12 August, Triumph stood out of Pearl Harbor with a convoy bound initially for the Solomon Islands. The minesweeper arrived at Florida Island near Guadalcanal on 24 August and conducted minesweeping rehearsals in the Russell Islands to prepare for the invasion of the Palaus. On 8 September, she departed Guadalcanal with Task Group (TG) 32.4, the transport screen for the Palau Islands invasion force. Triumph reached Kossol Passage at dawn on 15 September and began sweeping mines from the prospective anchorage there. At about 1430 on the next day, struck a mine while supporting the sweeping of Kossol Passage as destruction vessel. Triumph sent a fire and rescue party to assist the destroyer — by then completely without power — and took over her duties as destruction vessel destroying five floating mines by gunfire. Following that, she stood by Wadleigh until dark, providing what assistance she could. She then took up screening station for the night. Minesweeping operations continued on a daily basis until 18 September when Triumph was devoted entirely to screening and harbor control duties. She remained in the Palaus until mid-October — though at