USS Adams, a 2200-ton Robert H. Smith class light minelayer, was built at Bath, Maine. Originally intended to be a destroyer (designated DD-739), she was converted to a minelayer while still under construction and was commissioned in October 1944. Following an Atlantic shakedown, she went to the Pacific by the end of the year. In March and April 1945, USS Adams participated in the Okinawa campaign. She was targeted several times by Kamikaze attacks and was seriously damaged by one on 1 April, necessitating a return to the United States for repairs. When these were completed early in July 1945, Adams returned to the Western Pacific, where she remained until April 1946. She was decommissioned at San Diego, California, in December 1946. Redesignated MMD-27 in 1955, USS Adams remained in the reserve fleet until sold for scrapping in December 1971.

USS Adams was named in honor of Lieutenant Samuel Adams, USN, a hero of the Battle of Midway.