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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Skirmish (MSF 303)
ex-AM-303



Call sign:
November - Quebec - Uniform - Bravo


Skirmish served the Navies of the United States and the Dominican Republic
Admirable Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 8 April 1943 by Associated Shipbuilders, Seattle, WA
  • Launched 16 August 1943
  • Commissioned USS Skirmish (AM 303), 30 June 1944
  • Decommissioned in December 1945 at Orange, TX
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull), MSF-303, 7 February 1955
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 January 1965
  • Transferred to the Dominican Republic 14 January 1965 and renamed Tortuguero (BM-455)
  • Reclassified C-455
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 945 t.(fl)
  • Length 184' 6"
  • Beam 33'
  • Draft 9' 9"
  • Speed 14.8 kts.
  • Complement 104
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount, one twin 40mm gun mount, six 20mm gun mounts, one depth charge projector (hedgehog), four depth charge projectors (K-guns) and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Skirmish 191k Starboard side aerial view of Skirmish (AM 303) underway off San Pedro, California on 2 September 1944 wearing Measure 32/21d camouflage scheme
    National Archives photo 80-G-242519, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage    		 Mike Green
    Skirmish 165k Port side aerial view of Skirmish (AM 303) underway off San Pedro, California on 2 September 1944. Skirmish carries Measure 32/21d camouflage scheme
    National Archives photo 80-G-242520, courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Bruce Leverington Hyatt, USNR30 June 1944 - 12 September 1945
    02LT Richard Allen Anderson, USNR12 September 1945
    03LT Francis George Crawford, USN2 January 1946 - 11 July 1946
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and R. A. Moody
    View the Skirmish (MSF 303)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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