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UNIT AWARDS & CITATIONS
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
12-JUL-1961 14-JUL-1961 Cuba
11-AUG-1961 12-AUG-1961
Cuba
16-DEC-1961 18-DEC-1961 Cuba
18-AUG-1962 23-AUG-1962 Cuba
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
27-DEC-1971 16-JAN-1972
The second Vigor (AM-473) was laid down on 16 June 1952 at Manitowoc, Wis., by the Burger Boat Co.;
launched on 23 June 1953, sponsored by Mrs. Charles C. Kerwin; and commissioned at the Boston Naval Shipyard on 8 November
1954, Lt. Walter W. Schwartz in command.
After brief duty at Boston, the minesweeper moved to Key West for shakedown training early in 1955.
During the cruise, she was redesignated MSO-473 on 7 February. Minesweeper refresher training at Charleston, S.C., followed,
and Vigor then began a tour of duty with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory at Port Everglades, Fla. Later that year, Vigor became
a training ship, first for the Underwater Object Locator School at Key West and then for the Naval Mine Warfare School at
Yorktown, Va. Early in 1956, she again headed south to participate in the annual Caribbean exercise, Operation "Springboard."
During her cruise to the West Indies, Vigor made port calls at San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Fredricksted, St. Croix, in the
Virgin Islands. Following her return to Charleston and operations out of that port, she got underway on 1 May for her first
deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. During that cruise, she visited Harwich, England; Ostend, Belgium; and Lisbon, Portugal,
as well as touching at the usual 6th Fleet ports of call along the Mediterranean coast. She concluded that cruise at Charleston
on 6 October and resumed operations from that base.
Vigor continued that duty until the latter part of 1957, when she was reassigned to the Naval Mine
Defense Laboratory at Panama City, Fla. From that new home port, the minesweeper operated with Mine Division 85 participating
in various experimental projects conducted by the laboratory. For the next 14 years, she remained based at Panama City conducting
operations for both the Mine Warfare Laboratory and with the Operational Test and Evaluation Force. During her assignment
there, she also deployed to the Mediterranean five more times, operating with the 6th Fleet for six months at a time. Each
time she returned to Panama City she resumed normal duty which was broken periodically by overhauls at various locations.
On New Year's Day 1971, the ship's base was changed back to Charleston. She left Panama City on
the 18th and arrived in Charleston on the 27th. After 15 months of duty with the Mine Force, Vigor was decommissioned at Charleston
on 4 April 1972. Simultaneously, her name was struck from the Navy list, and she was transferred to the government of Spain.
As of the beginning of 1980, she remained an active unit of the Spanish Navy, serving under the name Guadiana (M 44).
The "Other" award, 27 Dec 1971- 16 Jan 1972, was the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Vigor
was tasked with trying to locate a satellite that didn't make it into orbit. With the SQQ-14 sonar, we were able to
pinpoint the exact location of the payload from the failed booster. We sent divers over the side to verify that it was the
satellite, and then buoyed the location for recovery by the Air Force. For this, Vigor was awarded the Air Force Outstanding
Unit Award.
John Ordean
SMSN USS Vigor 1971-72
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