The sixth Advance (MSO-510) was laid down on 28 June 1955 at Boothbay Harbor, Maine, by Frank L.
Sample, Jr., Inc; launched on 12 July 1956; sponsored by Mrs. Allen H. Sturges; and commissioned on 16 June 1958, Lt. Coleman
T. Brown in command.
The minesweeper completed her outfitting in Boothbay Harbor and, after a stop at Boston for additional
preparations, headed south for Charleston, S.C., near the end of the second week in July. She arrived at that port on 15 July
and conducted four weeks of shakedown training. On 12 August, the ship began the long passage to the west coast and her permanent
assignment.
She made stops at Key West, Fla., and at Havana, Cuba, before transiting the Panama Canal late in
August. She entered port at Long Beach Calif. on 7 September. For the remainder of 1958, the minesweeper engaged in various
training missions out of Long Beach. The year 1959 began with her carrying out more of the same type of duty, along with various
Pacific Mine Force competitions and inspections. On 1 April 1959, Advance entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for post-shakedown
availability and extensive modernization work to her main propulsion plant.
The minesweeper resumed local operations in the fall of 1959 and continued to be so engaged until
late in the summer of 1960. On 31 August of that year, she stood out of Long Beach for her first deployment to the western
Pacific. She made stops at Pear! Harbor and at Midway Island before arriving in Yokosuka, Japan, on 28 September. For a little
more than four months, Advance conducted training operations untie other ships of the 7th Fleet as well as with units of the
navies of Taiwan and Korea. She also visited various Korean Japanese, Taiwanese, and Philippine ports. On 11 February 1961,
the ship stood out of Subic Bay in the Philippines in company with the other ships of Mine Division (MinDiv) 92 bound for
the United States. After stops at Guam, Midway and Pearl Harbor, she arrived back in Long Beach on 25 March. Early the following
month the vessel entered a civilian shipyard at Long Beach for post-deployment repairs. In May, she resumed operations along
the west coast with units of the 1st Fleet.
Advance continued that employment over the next 14 months. She embarked upon her second deployment
to the western Pacific on 2 July 1962 and arrived at Subic Bay on 13 August. During the following two months, she made goodwill
stops at various islands in the Philippines. In mid-October, the minesweeper moved to Okinawa where she participated in the
7th Fleet's Exercise "Lone Eagle." From there she steamed to Sasebo Japan, for a series of repairs which included the replacement
of her port outboard main engine. On 5 December, the ship stood out of Sasebo bound for Hong Kong in which port she remained
for a week before returning to Subic Bay late in December. On 27 December 1962, she began the long voyage back to Long Beach
and re-entered her home port on 8 February 1963 after stops at Guam, Midway, and Pearl Harbor. Post-deployment leave and upkeep
followed. On 15 March, she resumed local operations out of Long Beach and devoted the remainder of 1963 and the first nine
months of 1964 to type training, inspections, regular overhaul, and competitive exercises.
On 28 September 1964, the minesweeper sailed from Long Beach on her third assignment to the 7th
Fleet in the western Pacific. En route she made the usual stop at Pearl Harbor plus one each at Johnston Island, Kwajalein
Atoll, Guam, and Okinawa before entering port at Sasebo on 23 November. After a repair period at that Japanese port the vessel
got underway on 7 December for mine exercises in co-operation with the Taiwanese Navy. She carried out that mission in waters
near Taiwan between 11 and 17 December and then headed for Hong Kong where her crew celebrated Christmas. Departing Hong Kong
on 27 December, she arrived at Subic Bay on the 30th.
Advance spent the first five weeks of 1965 in upkeep at Subic Bay and, on 7 February, headed for
her first combat tour in the recently escalated war in South Vietnam. She cruised the coastal waters of South Vietnam for
about two weeks with Task Group (TG) 76.5, returning to Subic Bay on 22 February. She remained in Subic Bay for a fortnight
and then headed back to Vietnam on 7 March. The minesweeper conducted special operations off the coast of South Vietnam until
9 April and then shaped a course for Australia. She arrived in Brisbane, Australia, on 30 April, and spent about a week engaged
in the festivities celebrating the Allied victory in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. During the second week in May,
the warship visited Sydney, Australia then made a four-day stop at Kembla, Australia; and got underway on 19 May to return
home. She made stops at Fiji, American Samoa, Johnston Island, and Pearl Harbor before re-entering Long Beach on 26 June.
Following post-deployment standdown Advance cruised the waters of the American Pacific coast until
late in August when she began regular overhaul at a civilian shipyard. Although this work ended on 24 November, the ship remained
moored at Long Beach for the rest of the year. Refresher and type training occupied her time until mid-May 1966. On 16 May'
she departed Long Beach and headed back to the western Pacific. She made stops along the way at Pear! Harbor, Johnston Island,
Kwajalein
Atoll, and Guam. At the latter island, the minesweeper underwent a 10-day repair period. She arrived
in the Far East on 5 July. Eleven days later, she embarked upon her first Vietnam patrol of that deployment Until mid-August,
the minesweeper conducted missions in Operation "Market Time." the ongoing patrols to interdict communist waterborne logistics
efforts. Her guns spoke in anger for the first time in her career on the second day of the patrol. A group of three junks
refused to heave to when so ordered. Advance and an accompanying "swift" boat opened fire and promptly destroyed all three.
Later in the patrol, the warship encountered a disabled cargo junk and towed it to a friendly village. She concluded the first
patrol period of the deployment on 26 August when she entered Sasebo, Japan, for repairs.
She departed Sasebo on 10 September and' after a diversion to Subic Bay, took up her patrol station
on the 24th. She cruised Vietnamese waters for 16 days and then departed the area on October for upkeep at Subic Bay. Twenty
days later, she headed back to Vietnam for her third "Market Time" patrol of the deployment. During that tour she participated
in one salvage operation and two search and rescue missions. On 19 November, Advance left Vietnamese waters once more, this
time bound for Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for a tender availability alongside Isle Royal (AD-29). She departed Taiwan on 11 December
for an eight-day visit to Hong Kong before resuming "Market Time", operations late that month. The minesweeper concluded another
quiet patrol on 1 February 1967 and set a course for Subic Bay. She completed repairs there on 10 February and set out for
home. The warship underwent repairs at Guam between 18 February and 5 March and then resumed her voyage back to the United
States She made stops at Kwajalein, Johnston Island, and Pearl Harbor before arriving back in Long Beach on 5 April 1967.
After post-deployment leave and upkeep, Advance embarked upon normal west coast operations. These
included amphibious exercises an operational readiness inspection, and type training. In mid June, she was also called upon
to spend two days shadowing a Soviet intelligence-gathering ship disguised as a trawler. Normal operations continued through
the summer and into the fall. On 15 November, the ship entered a civilian shipyard in Long Beach for her regular overhaul
which lasted through the end of 1967 and the first four months of 1968. On 6 May, she put to sea for post-overhaul shakedown
and refresher training. Such employment continued until early in September.
On 9 September 1968, Advance stood out of Long Beach bound for the western Pacific once more. After
the usual stops at Pearl Harbor, Johnston Island, Kwajalein, and Guam, as well as one at Yap Island, she arrived in Subic
Bay in late November. On 25 November, she once agate took up duties in Vietnamese waters, this time serving as barrier ship
for the familiar "Market Time" patrol. Advance continued to alternate periods on "Market Time'' patrol with repair and leave
periods in various ports through the first week in March 1969. Later that month, she headed for home.
After about a year of normal operations along the west coast, Advance was deployed to the western
Pacific in the spring of 1970 for the fifth and final time of her career. She conducted operations along the Vietnamese coast
for two extended periods during the summer of 1970 before returning to the west coast that fall. In December 1970, Advance
was placed out of commission and was berthed with the Mare Island Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. Her name was apparently struck
from the Navy list between 1 October and 31 December 1976. She was transferred by sale to Mr. Oskco Edwards of Capistrano
Beach, Calif., on 6 January 1977
Advance (MSO-510) earned five battle stars during the Vietnam conflict.
