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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

MSO-453
ex-AM-453



Alencon call sign:
Foxtrot - Alpha - Sierra - Whiskey


AM-453 was built for France

AM-450 Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 1 November 1952 as AM-453 by the Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, WA
  • Launched, 11 April 1953
  • Completed, 23 June 1954
  • Transferred to France as Alencon (M 612), 16 July 1954
  • Reclassified by U.S. Navy as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-453, 7 February 1955
  • Struck from the Navy Register in 1983 and scrapped at Landevennec, France.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 750 t.
  • Length 171'
  • Beam 35'
  • Draft 10' 4"
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 39
  • Armament: One 40mm mount and two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 800shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    M-612 102k . Robert Hurst
    M-612 49k
    M-612 45k
    M-612 59k c. 1956
    Photo by M. Henri Le Masson from the 1956/1957 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    M-612 468k 27 August 1991
    Nantes, France    		 Carlo Martinelli
    M-612 417k
    M-612 311k
    There is no DANFS history available for MSO-453
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
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