USS Assertive (AMc-65) was an Accentor-class coastal minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing. The still unnamed wooden-hulled coastal minesweeper AMc-65 was laid down on 5 April 1941 at South Bristol, Maine, by the Bristol Yacht Building Co.; named Avenge (AMc-65) on 17 May 1941; renamed Assertive on 23 May 1941 when the name Avenge was reassigned to AMc-66; launched on 19 November 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Harvey Gamage of Bristol, Maine, the wife of a partner in the Bristol Yacht Building Co.; delivered to the Navy at the Boston Navy Yard on 19 February 1942; and placed in service there on 7 March 1942.