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5
UNIT AWARDS AND CITATIONS
ARMED FORCES EXPEDITIONARY MEDAL (2),HUMANITARIAN SERVICE MEDAL (2) AND U.S. AIR FORCE OUTSTANDING
UNIT AWARD 14 JAN 1972 - 31 JAN 1972.
The second Fidelity (AM-443) was launched 21 August 1953 by Higgins, Inc., New
Orleans, La.; sponsored by Mrs. R. K. Wells, and commissioned 19 January 1955. She was reclassified MSO 443 on 7 February
1955.
Fidelity first arrived at her home port, Charleston,
S.C., 1 May 1955, and through the next year ranged widely in the western Atlantic serving with the Mine Countermeasures Station
at Panama City, Fla., participating in fleet exercise, and calling at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Between 29 August 1957 and 13
February 1958, she served her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet, joining in sweeping exercises as
well as a large scale NATO training operation.
The minesweeper sailed directly to Beirut, Lebanon, on her 1958 deployment to the Mediterranean,
arriving 15 August to support the marines landed a month earlier to stabilize the critical Middle Eastern situation. After
an 8-day visit, she took up a regular Mediterranean tour schedule, which included visits to ports in Greece, Crete, and the
Balearic Isles before her return to Charleston 3 November.
Between 24 July 1959 and 11 February 1960, Fidelity completed a third tour of
duty in the Mediterranean, returning to coastwise operations through 1962. [Transcriber's Note: Decommissioned and stricken
16 June 1989, Fidelity was sold 16 August 1990.]
1966 Battle Efficiency "E"
Mine Force, Atlantic
Meadowlark (MSC 196)
Skill (MSO 471)
Jacana
(MSC 193)
Direct (MSO 430)
Adroit (MSO 509)
Vital (MSO 474)
Fidelity (MSO 443)
All Hands Magazine
1980 MARIEL BOATLIFT
On 30 April 1980, President Carter ordered the Navy to divert ships scheduled for a Caribbean naval
exercise to assist in rescuing Cuban refugees who were in distress aboard overcrowded private vessels. On 1 May, the Department
of Defense announced that Atlantic Fleet ships would be diverted from Exercise Solid Shield 80 to assist the U.S. Coast Guard
in the Florida Straits. Navy ships assigned to the operations included: LHA-2 Saipan, LST-1190 Boulder, LPD-15
Ponce, LSI-1188 Saginaw, LPD-12 Shreveport, MSO-448 Illusive, MSO-490 Leader, MSO-443 Fidelity,
MSO-441 Exultant, MSO-431 Dominant, MSO-433 Engage. On 9 May, a landing craft from LHA-2 Saipan
took 140 Cuban refugees aboard. On 3 June, President Carter authorized the involuntary call-up of USCG reservists to take
over the regular duties of Coast Guard personnel assigned to aid with the Cuban refugee operations.
1980 SQQ 30 installed
1987 SQQ 32 installed for testing.
The U.S. Navy completed factory testing and began
in-water tests of an engineering development model (EDM) at a test site at Lake Travis, Texas, in FY86. In FY87, the
Lake Travis tests were completed and an SQQ-32(V) EDM was installed on board the minesweeper USS Fidelity (MSO-443) for contractor
sea trials.
NASA Navy Recovery Ships
Gemini-Titan 8 (GT-8) - March 16, 1966
USS Leonard F. Mason (actual recovery ship)
USS
Boxer (PRS)
USS Caloosahatchee
USS Charles P. Cecil
USS Cochrane
USS Fidelity
USS George K. MacKenzie
USS Goodrich
USS Hassayampa
USS Myles C. Fox
USS Noa
USS Paiute
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