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UPDATED:JUN 13 2008
WOODEN SHIPS & IRON MEN
Aggressive Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 31 March 1952 by the Wilmington Boat Works, Wilmington,
CA; Launched, 9 January 1954; Commissioned USS Pivot (AM-463), 12 July 1954; Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper MSO-463,
7 Febraury 1955; Decommissioned, 1 Ju;y 1971; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 August 1974; Loaned under the Security Assistance
Program to Spain 1 July 1971 and renamed Guadalmedina (M-42); Purchased by Spain, 1 August 1974; Still in service with Spanish
Navy.
Specifications: Displacement 630 t.(lt), 755 t.(fl); Length 172'; Beam 35'; Draft 10'; Speed
14 kts; Complement 6 Officers, 74 Enlisted; Armament, as built, one single 40mm gun mount, two .50 cal machine guns, final
configuration, bow gun replaced by one twin 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns remain; Propulsion, four Packard ID1700
diesel engines, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
These new minesweepers were smaller and built primarily of wood , with bronze and stainless (non-magnetic)
steel fittings to minimize their magnetic signature. All of the 1950 era MSOs had UQS-1 mine-locating sonar, later updated
with SQQ-14 sonar. MSOs were capable of sweeping for moored, bottom contact, magnetic and acoustic mines.
| CALL SIGN |
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| November Juliette Sierra Whiskey |
WOODEN SHIPS AND IRON MEN a book by CDR David D.Bruhn USN RET. A complete history of our MSO's from
1953 to 1994.To learn more about this excellent minesweeper book please visit CDR Bruhn's website at the link below.
David Bruhn
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