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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

MSO-498
ex-AM-498


MSO-498 was built for Norway and later transferred to Belgium.



Dufour call sign:
Oscar - Romeo - Juliet - Delta
Aggressive Class Ocean Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 11 February 1954 as AM-498 by the Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, WA
  • Launched 13 August 1954
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-498, 7 February 1955
  • Completed 27 September 1955, transferred to Norway and named Lagen (M 950)
  • Transferred to Belgium 14 April 1966 and renamed Dufour (M 903)
  • Placed in reserve in 1996
  • Requested demilitarization from the Defense Logistics Agency in January 2004
  • Transferred to the Port of Ghent, Belgium for demolition 16 January 2007 and scrapped.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 934 t.
  • Length 190'
  • Beam 36'
  • Draft 12'
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 81
  • Armament: One 40mm mount and two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 1,650shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    AM-498
    MSO-498 202k c. 1954
    Fitting out at Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, WA
    National Archives photo 6933498    		 Robert Hurst
    MSO-498 163k c. 1954
    Fitting out at Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, WA
    In the background are AM-477, later the French minesweeper Vinh Long (M 619) and AM-498, later the Portuguese minesweeper NRP São Jorge (M 415)
    National Archives photo 6933496
    MSO-498
    MSO-498 56k Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Lagen (M 950)
    MSO-498 91k Flying the Norwegian flag, but wearing her U.S. Navy hull number
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Robert M. Cieri
    MSO-498 102k Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Dufour (M 903)
    MSO-498 89k
    MSO-498 91k Photo courtesy of Raphodon Robert Hurst
    MSO-498 187k Dufour follows the Federal German Navy Lindau-class minesweeper FGS Cuxhaven (M 1078)
    Photo from the collection Fotoburo de Boer. De Boer photo press agency. Inventory number NL-HlmNHA 1478 31616 K 26
    Photo added 13 August 2019
    MSO-498 87k 7 December 2003
    Zeebrugge, Belgium    		 Paolo Marsan
    Dufour
    MSO-498 52k c. January 2007
    Being towed to scrap yard at Ghent, Belgium
    Photo courtesy of Francois Gelens    		 Tommy Trampp
    MSO-498 37k
    MSO-498 7k c. January 2007
    Ghent, Belgium
    At scrap yard with De Brouwer (M 904) ex-MSO-499 on the left
    Photo courtesy of Daniel Develter and Luc De Weirdt
    MSO-498 32k c. January 2007
    Ghent, Belgium
    At scrap yard
    Photo courtesy of Daniel Develter and Erik De Smidt
    There is no DANFS history available for MSO-498
    Additional Resources and Web Sites 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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