USS Kingbird (AMS-194)

USS Kingbird (AMS-194) was a Bluebird-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for clearing coastal minefields.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Kingbird.
History
United States
Name: Kingbird
Namesake: Kingbird
Builder: Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California
Laid down: 26 February 1954
Launched: 21 May 1954
Commissioned: 27 April 1955
Reclassified: Coastal Minesweeper, 7 February 1955
Stricken: 1 July 1972
Identification:
Fate: Sold for scrap, 1 March 1973
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: Bluebird-class minesweeper
Displacement: 290 long tons (290 t)
Length: 144 ft 3 in (43.97 m)
Beam: 28 ft (8.5 m)
Draft: 9 ft (2.7 m)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 2 × screws
Speed: 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement: 39
Armament: 2 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon cannons anti-aircraft (AA) mounts

Construction

The second ship to be named Kingbird was laid down 26 February 1954, as AMS-194; launched 21 May 1954 by the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard, Inc., Quincy, Massachusetts; sponsored by Mrs. Marion Cushman Wilson; reclassified MSC-194 on 7 February 1955; and commissioned on 27 April 1955, Lieutenant (jg) Robert E. Alder, in command.[2]

East Coast operations

After shakedown, Kingbird arrived Charleston, South Carolina, for minesweep training and for the entire year she perfected methods of detecting and destroying mines. She also participated in exercises which kept her ready for any service she might be called upon to perform. From 1956 through 1964, Kingbird engaged in minesweeping exercises along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to the Panama Canal Zone in the Caribbean. During 1965, she displayed her versatility in two search operations: one for a downed Navy plane and the other a lost merchant ship. In 1967, she still operated out of Charleston.[2]

Decommissioning

Kingbird was struck from the Navy Register on 1 July 1972, and disposed of through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for scrap, 1 March 1973.[1]

Notes
    Citations
    1. Navsource.
    2. DANFS 2015.

    Bibliography

    Online resources

    • "Kingbird II (MSC-194)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
    • "USS Kingbird (MSC-194)". Navsource.org. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
    • Photo gallery of USS Kingbird (AMS/MSC-194) at NavSource Naval History
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