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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Courtesy of Manuel Bermudez Arroyo

Left patch courtesy of Mike Smolinski - Right patch courtesy of Manuel Bermudez Arroyo

Vigor (MSO 473)

Vigor call sign:
November - Juliet - Echo - Whiskey

ex-AM-473

Vigor served the Navies of the United States and Spain.

Guadiana call sign:
Echo - Bravo - Lima - Papa

Aggressive Class Minesweeper:

Laid down 16 June 1952 by the Burger Boat Co., Manitowoc, Wisconsin

Launched 23 June 1953

Commissioned USS Vigor (AM-473) at Boston Naval Shipyard, Boston, Massachusetts 8 November 1954

Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-473, 7 February 1955

Decommissioned 4 April 1972, struck from the Navy Register, transferred to Spain under the Security Assistance Program and renamed Guadiana (M-44)

Struck from the Spanish Navy list 14 October 1999 per Resolution 263/99

Decommissioned 1 November 1999 and scrapped.

Specifications:

Displacement 630 t.(lt), 755 t.(fl)

Length 172'

Beam 35'

Draft 10'

Speed 14 kts.

Complement 80

Armament: As built, one 40mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns - Final configuration, two .50 cal. machine guns

Propulsion: Four Packard ID1700 diesel engines, two controllable pitch propellers, two shafts.

Click on thumbnail for full size image	Size	Image Description	Source
Vigor (AM 473)
	165k	Launch day Burger Boat Co. photo	Michael Cosgrove, CDR, USN, Ret.
	186k
	164k
	238k
	220k	Launching Burger Boat Co. photo
	242k	Launched Burger Boat Co. photo
	128k	On sea trials Burger Boat Co. photo
	182k	On sea trials Burger Boat Co. photo
	150k	Open house Burger Boat Co. photo
USS Vigor (MSO 473)
	155k	c. April 1960 Gulf of Mexico U.S. Navy photo	Original photo: USS Vigor Website Replacement photo: Robert M. Cieri
Guadiana (M 44)
	124k	4 April 1972 Transfer Ceremony Program Cover	Original photo: Manuel Bermudez Arroyo Replacement photo: Michael Cosgrove
	220k	Decommissioning Crew of Vigor	Michael Cosgrove
	132k	Decommissioning Crew of Vigor	Michael Cosgrove
	159k	Commissioning Crew of Guadiana	Manuel Bermudez Arroyo
	68k	c. February 1986 Barcelona, Spain	Ignacio López
	67k	12 August 1988 Mahón, Balearic Islands, Menorca, Spain	Ignacio López
	73k	22 March 1998 Cadiz, Spain Outboard of the Spanish corvette Infanta Cristina (F 34)	Daniel Ferro
	251k	3 June 1998 Departing Toulon, France	Carlo Martinelli

Commanding Officers - USS Vigor (MSO 473)
01	LT Walter William Schwartz, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1945	8 November 1954 - 7 September 1955
02	LCDR Bruce B. Dunning, USN	7 September 1955 - 16 July 1957
03	LCDR Joe Lewis Pecore, USN	16 July 1957 - 3 September 1959
04	LT/LCDR Donald Hugh Campbell, USN - USNA Class of 1949	3 September 1959 - 19 December 1960
05	LCDR Lon Campbell Thomas, USN	19 December 1960 - 30 June 1962
06	LCDR George Kidder Derby, USN - USNA Class of 1951	30 June 1962 - 7 January 1965
07	LCDR Edgar Leslie Kilborn, USN	7 January 1965 - 7 November 1966
08	LCDR Theodore Lloyd Shope, USN	7 November 1966 - 16 August 1968
09	LCDR William David Patrick, USN	16 August 1968 - 27 November 1970
10	LCDR Thomas Joseph Lynch, USN	27 November 1970 - 4 April 1972

Commanding Officers - Guadiana (M 44)
01	Teniente Comandante Jose Maria Calvar Martinez	4 April 1972

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Manuel Bermudez Arroyo

View the Vigor (MSO-473)
DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website

Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers

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