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The second Observer was laid down 20 July 1953 as AM-461 by Higgins Inc., New Orleans, La.; launched
19 October 1954 sponsored by Mrs. E. V. Richards, reclassified MSO-461 on 2 February 1955, commissioned 31 August 1955, Lt.
Comdr. P. H. Barkley in command.
After fitting out, Observer joined the Atlantic Fleet Mine Force and participated in minesweeping
exercises prior to deploying to the Mediterranean. Observer sailed for the Mediterranean 1 May 1956 as part of Mine Division
85. After ports of call in the Mediterranean, she participated in NATO exercises in the area of Harwich, England. Following
these exercises, Observer made goodwill visits to several Scandinavian countries, France, Portugal, Italy, and Gibraltar.
She departed Gibraltar 28 September and began the long trip home, arriving 13 October.
Observer participated in operations along the Atlantic seaboard, in the Caribbean and off Panama
during the first half of 1957. In June 1957, she visited Hampton Roads, Va. for the Naval Review. Then Observer put into Norfolk
Navy Yard for an extended overhaul. Then came refresher training, and exercises prior to deploying to the Mediterranean in
January 1958. Observer continued this trend of operations, deploying with the 6th Fleet and participating in exercises along
the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean, into 1970.
Mine Division 85
Charleston,South Carolina
USS Notable MSO 460
USS Observer MSO 461
USS
Rival MSO 468
USS Salute MSO 470
USS Ability MSO 519
NASA Recovery ship:
Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) - February 20, 1962 (John Glenn)
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for the Dominican Republic Invasion 01 May 1965 to 25 May 1965.
My first minesweep duty began in March of 1967. With nearly twelve years behind me, I had already
served aboard a heavy cruiser, tanker, an escort carrier converted to a major communication relay vessel, and a repair ship.
I reported on board USS Skill (MSO-471) while in the floating drydock at Denton shipyard in Charleston, SC.
Right away I was told that their only qualified minesweep electrician, an EM3 had committed suicide
just a couple of days before. Welcome aboard, don't unpack too much because you will be going to sweep electrical school real
soon. So about a week later off I went to school. After twelve weeks of school I reported back to Skill. She was fresh out
of overhaul alongside the pier. This time I was told, "Don't unpack, you are transferred to USS Observer (MSO-461)." This
was Friday afternoon, so I traded my school orders at ships office for orders to Observer and off I went to find my new home.
I found a pile of magnetic gear stacked on the pier and one sailor guarding it. He informed me that
she was almost finished check ranging and should be pierside in about two hours to load the gear and depart for Windward Passage
Patrol before sunset.
A fast trip home to pack and take care of some other things and I got back shortly before they finished
loading. While in schooI I found out that I'd been selected for EMC in the September increment. I had already bought some
uniforms so I packed those too.
Finally underway, just before sunset, we cleared the sea buoy and the weather was a bit rough. One
of the other ships went dead in the water. Observer took her under tow through the night until she were able to get the plant
online and head for Roosevelt Roads on her own.
ENCS Mooney was a ham operator and had his rig aboard for the trip. He rigged an antenna out the
aft porthole of CPO quarters up to above the acoustic cable reel. He had arrange a schedule with another fellow in Charleston
for phone patches nearly every night. Anyone who wanted to could talk with the folks back home at least once or twice each
week. Windward Passage Patrol was tough, the old evaps just couldn't make enough water. So all available space on the fantail
was full of lube oil drums. Some full of oil and others with the top cut off, lined with plastic and filled with fresh water
for the engines
I mentioned before that I had served on several other types of ships. But minesweeps showed me that
they are a different breed of ships and sailors. Windward Passage Patrol during the autumn of 1967 was uneventful and boring.
Just steaming along with enough speed to maintain steerage. Some of the crew rigged fishing lines off both stern cranes. A
couple of times they provided fresh fish for a barbecue on the fantail.
September 16th finally arrived on a Saturday that year. We were due to leave Guantanamo Bay on Saturday
but our CO arranged to delay departure until Sunday so I got my initiation at the CPO club on base. There was only base liberty
at the time so initiations were an event. My memory of most of that day and evening is a bit fuzzy. Initiations were not politically
correct back then but it was a great experience. Anyway we all survived and got underway Sunday for Colon, Panama. The diesels
sounded awfully loud that morning. While at Colon, some of us went on a tour of the San Blas Islands. We boarded a bus from
Colon to Panama City, then flew in an old DC-3 that still had Allegheny Airlines markings on the wings. I swear I was able
to see daylight through seams in the fuselage during that flight. We landed in a dirt clearing in the jungle then our guide
loaded us into a couple of canoes which we paddled down river to a landing. Then on to small steamer that took us out to the
islands. Lunch time came and we found out that nobody brought lunch and there was no place to eat on any of the islands. Someone
came up with a couple packages of coconut macaroon cookies, so that became lunch. Then it was steamer, canoe, airplane and
bus back to Colon. We should have been paid to make that trip.
That deployment ended and we returned to Charleston in November. Our entire crew threw a dinner
for ENCS Mooney and his contact and their wives. I left Observer in June of 1968 for shore duty with COMINPAC at Long Beach,
CA.
ENC Frank Breyer USN RET.
One of the things about the cruise to patrol the windward passage I remember , was about ham radio.
We were on ops around the island of Viaquias or how ever it is spelled. We had left Roosevelt
Roads and had been of ops all day. The sun had gone down and I had started running patches for the crew while the deck gang
was still working. All at once the radio shocked me real bad and I could not contact Nick in Charleston, In just a few minutes
one of the crew came in and said that they had knocked the antenna down and not to worry that it would be back up soon.In
about 5 minutes it was up and they told me to continue. Nick was still waiting on me, He knew something had happened. I told
him that I had lost the antenna and it was back up. I ran several more patches that night. I usually ran 15 to 20 a night
on that cruise. Those guys were right in there to help me keep going.
73
Ronie Mooney ENCS-RET
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