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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Right patch courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Persistent (MSO-491)

Call sign:
November - Hotel - Yankee - Alpha

ex-AM-491

Persistent served the Navies of the United States and Spain.

Guadalquivir's call sign:
Echo - Bravo - Juliet - Alpha

Aggressive Class Minesweeper:

Laid down, 17 June 1954 as AM-491 by the J. L. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA

Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper (nonmagnetic), MSO-491, 7 February 1955

Launched, 23 April 1955

Commissioned USS Persistent (MSO 491), 3 February 1956

Decommissioned, 1 July 1971

Struck from the Naval Register 1 August 1974, sold to Spain under the Security Assistance Program and renamed Guadalquivir (M-43)

Fate unknown.

Specifications:

Displacement 775 t.

Length 172'

Beam 35'

Draft 12'

Speed 14 kts.

Complement 78

Armament: As built, one 40mm gun mount and two .50 cal. machine guns, Final configuration, 40mm mount replaced by one twin 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns remained

Propulsion: Four Packard ID1700 diesel engines, replaced by four Waukasha Motors Co. diesels, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.

Click on thumbnail for full size image	Size	Image Description	Source
USS Persistent (MSO 491)
	23k	-	USS Persistent (MSO-423) Web Site Rick Szpyrka Courtesy Frank Fabriziani
	83k	"In the afternoon sun..." Off Long Beach, CA Photo by George Arthur	Floyd Farrar
	108k	c. Late 1957 Japan	Dan Hebert
	100k	c. early 1960s Viewed from Dynamic (MSO 432) Photo by George Arthur	Floyd Farrar
	68k	c. 1962 Off Long Beach, CA Photo by George Arthur	Floyd Farrar
Guadalquivir (M 43)
	61k	Spanish Navy photo	Spanish Navy
	72k	Spanish Navy photo	Spanish Navy
	55k	c. July 1976 Rota, Spain	Richard Leonhardt

View the Persistent (MSO 491) Crew Photos

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Laid down, 17 June 1954 as AM-491, by the J. L. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Washington; Redesignated MSO-491, 7 February 1955; Launched, 23 April 1955; Commissioned USS Persistent (MSO-491), 3 February 1956.

Following Pacific coast shakedown, Persistent reported for duty to Commander, Pacific Fleet, 2 March 1956 and was designated flagship for Mine Division 91 the same day. In September 1956 she was modified for advanced sound reduction to protect against acoustic mines.

In August 1957 she deployed to WestPac as part of Mine Countermeasures Group, 7th Fleet. After return to Long Beach for regular overhaul in February 1958 and completion of type training that year, she engaged in research at the Navy Acoustic Range, Puget Sound, September 1959. Later that year she measured ocean currents under assignment to Scripps institute of Oceanography.

After another deployment to WestPac in 1960, she returned to California in July. After type training in 1961, she deployed to WestPac in January 1962, assisting in the training of South Vietnamese sailors from January to August. After domestic operations in 1963, she deployed annually to WestPac from 1964 to 1968. Into 1970 she remained active with the Pacific Fleet. Decommissioned, 1 July 1971; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 August 1974 and sold to Spain under the Security Assistance Program, renamed Guadalquivir (M-43).

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
Navy MSO Association Email Addresses

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
USS Persistent (MSO-491)
102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
Association of Minemen
Navy MSO Association

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