From: Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships

A sentinel.

(ACM-8: dp. 1,320 (f.); 1. 188'2"; b. 37'; dr. 12'6"; s. 12.5 k.; cpl. 69; a. 1 40mm.; cl. Chimo)

Picket (ACM-8) was completed l5 April 1942 by Marietta Manufacturing Co., Point Pleasant, W. Va., as Army mine planter General Henry Knox; transferred to the Navy 2 January 1945, completed conversion to ACM at Charleston Navy Yard 5 March 1945; and commissioned 6 March 1945 Lt. Robert F. Harwood in command.

Picket departed Charleston S.C. 11 March 1945, and arrived Little Creek, Va., 13 March. Following shakedown she reported for duty 3 April to Commander, Service Force Atlantic, Norfolk, Va. Loaded with minesweeping equipment, she departed Norfolk 26 April, transited the Panama Canal 7 May and arrived San Diego, Calif., 20 May Following training Picket departed San Diego 9 June, and proceeded via Pearl Harbor, Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan to Okinawa, arriving 28 July to serve as minesweeper tender.

Picket departed Okinawa 16 August, and, following rendezvous with Task Force 31 on the 21st, she entered Tokyo Bay on the 28th. With minesweepers, she departed Tokyo Bay 12 September, and arrived at Wakayama, Japan, on the 14th.

Sailing from Kii Suido 20 September, she entered the Inland Sea on the 22nd. Through 31 October she operated with minesweepers to clear the approaches to Hiro, Kure, Gunchu, and Matsuyama for Army landings.

Following postwar occupation duties Picket returned to the U.S. She decommissioned 24 June 1946 and was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard that date. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register 19 July 1946. [Transcriber's Note: Picket was designated WLB-332 and named Willow in USCG service.]