(MSO-509)
Ship's History
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The USS ADROIT (MSO 509) was built on
18 November 1954 at Boothbay Harbor, Maine, by Frank L. Sample, Jr.,INC.
She was launched on 20 August 1955, and was sponsored by Mrs.Alice G. Olsen, wife of Captain Eliot Olsen. The ADROIT was commissioned on 04 March 1957. LCDR J.G. NEMETZ assumed command of this fine ship.
Significant Dates
(34.9 years of service)
- Duty with the 6th Fleet-1958
- Earned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal as a result of service off the coast of Lebanon. Home port - Charleston, South Carolina
- Participated in the Cuban blockade to keep Russian ships from delivering missiles to Cuba.
- Assigned to the Gordon Cooper's Project Mercury space shot.-1963
- Conducted tests - Naval Oceanographic Office - 1970
- She provided services for the following:-1971-1972
Naval Mine Defense Laboratory
Naval Coastal Systems Laboratory(Panama City, Florida)Naval Ordnance Laboratory Test Facility(Fort Lauderdale, Florida)Mine Warfare School(Charleston, South Carolina)
- During her services in home waters, she concentrated on training, independent ship exercises and goodwill port visits. This included regular overhauls, and repair periods.
- Homeport change from Charleston to Newport, Rhode Island. Reassignment to Naval Reserve training duty.-1973
- She changed her homeport to Portsmouth, New Hampshire where she operated for more than four years.-1977
- She was homeported at the Naval Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Virginia.-1981
- She deployed to the Persian Gulf.-1991
The Multinational Coalition Mine Countermeasure Force found approximately 1300 Iraqi-laid mines in the Gulf.
** This great wooden ship was decommissioned on 12 December 1991 **She was disposed of by the Navy15 April 1994
Wooden Ships and Iron Men
The U.S. Navy's Ocean Minesweepers,
1953-1994
by David Bruhn
All MSO sailors should read this book........This book tells it all. It validates our purpose as a unique group of sailors that served in the U.S.NAVY.
Al Hines-Webmaster
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