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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:
  • Built by Burger Boat Co., Manitowoc, WI
  • Laid down, 16 June 1952
  • Launched, 23 June 1953
  • Commissioned at Boston Naval Shipyard, 08 November 1954
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-473, 07 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 per Resolution 263/99, 14 October 1999
  • Decommissioned 01 November 1999
  • Final disposition, 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)
    Vigor 165k Launch day
    Burger Boat Co. photo    		 Michael Cosgrove, CDR, USN, Ret.
    Vigor 186k
    Vigor 164k
    Vigor 238k
    Vigor 220k Launching
    Burger Boat Co. photo
    Vigor 242k Launched
    Burger Boat Co. photo
    Vigor 128k On sea trials
    Burger Boat Co. photo
    Vigor 182k
    Vigor 150k Open house
    Burger Boat Co. photo
    Vigor
    110247319    		 142k Entering Taranto harbor, Italy, September 1956. Dave Wright
    USS Vigor (MSO 473)
    Vigor 155k c. April 1960
    Gulf of Mexico
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Original photo: USS Vigor Website
    Replacement photo: Robert M. Cieri
    Guadiana (M 44)
    Vigor/Guadiana 124k 4 April 1972
    Transfer Ceremony Program Cover    		 Original photo: Manuel Bermudez Arroyo
    Replacement photo: Michael Cosgrove
    Vigor 220k Decommissioning Crew of Vigor Michael Cosgrove
    Vigor 132k
    Guadiana 159k Commissioning Crew of Guadiana Manuel Bermudez Arroyo
    Guadiana 68k c. February 1986
    Barcelona, Spain    		 Ignacio López
    Guadiana 67k 12 August 1988
    Mahón, Balearic Islands, Menorca, Spain
    Guadiana 73k 22 March 1998
    Cadiz, Spain
    Outboard of the Spanish corvette Infanta Cristina (F 34)    		 Daniel Ferro
    Guadiana 251k 3 June 1998
    Departing Toulon, France    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Commanding Officers - USS Vigor (MSO 473)
    01LT Walter William Schwartz, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 19458 November 1954 - 7 September 1955
    02LCDR Bruce B. Dunning, USN7 September 1955 - 16 July 1957
    03LCDR Joe Lewis Pecore, USN16 July 1957 - 3 September 1959
    04LT/LCDR Donald Hugh Campbell, USN - USNA Class of 19493 September 1959 - 19 December 1960
    05LCDR Lon Campbell Thomas, USN19 December 1960 - 30 June 1962
    06LCDR George Kidder Derby, USN - USNA Class of 195130 June 1962 - 7 January 1965
    07LCDR Edgar Leslie Kilborn, USN7 January 1965 - 7 November 1966
    08LCDR Theodore Lloyd Shope, USN7 November 1966 - 16 August 1968
    09LCDR William David Patrick, USN16 August 1968 - 27 November 1970
    10LCDR Thomas Joseph Lynch, USN27 November 1970 - 4 April 1972
    Commanding Officers - Guadiana (M 44)
    01Teniente Comandante Jose Maria Calvar Martinez4 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
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Ocean Minesweeper (MSO) Photo Index
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    This page was created by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) and maintained by David L. Wright
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    Last Updated 08 September 2023