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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

MSO-499
ex-AM-499


MSO-499 was built for Norway and later transferred to Belgium



De Brouwer call sign:
Oscar - Romeo - Juliet - Echo
Aggressive Class Ocean Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 25 April 1954 as AM-498 by Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, WA
  • Launched, 15 October 1954
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-499, 7 February 1955
  • Completed 1 November 1955, transferred to Norway and named Namsen (M 951)
  • Transferred to Belgium 14 April 1966 and renamed RBNS De Brouwer (M 904)
  • Retired from service in July 1993
  • Requested demilitarization from the Defense Logistics Agency in January 2004
  • Transferred to the Port of Ghent, Belgium for demolition 16 January 2007.

    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 2,700shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    MSO-499
    MSO-499 121k MSO-499
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Belgium MSO Website
    Namsen (M 951)
    MSO-481 458k NATO minesweepers underway during a STANAVFORCHAN [Standing Naval Force - Channel] Exercise. Ships are from top to bottom: the Federal German Navy Duren (M 1079); the Netherlands Navy Abcoude (M 180); the Norwegian Navy Alssund (M 572), ex-MSC-128; the De Brouwer; the Netherlands Navy Onbevreesd (A 855), ex-MSO-481; HMS Kirkliston (M 1157); the Danish Navy Omøsund (M 576), ex-MSC-221; the Belgian Navy Koksijde (M 933) and the superstructure of HMS Bossington (M 1133)
    Royal Navy Museum photo from "Safeguarding the Nation: The Story of the Modern Royal Navy" by John Roberts    		 Robert Hurst
    MSO-499 113k c. 1956
    Royal Norwegian Navy photo from the 1956/1957 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    MSO-499 107k c. 1957
    Royal Norwegian Navy photo from the 1958/1959 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    MSO-499 44k Royal Norwegian Navy photo from the 1961/1962 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    RBNS De Brouwer (M 904)
    MSO-499 84k Belgium Navy photo Belgium MSO Web Site
    MSO-499 44k De Brouwer and G. Truffaut (M 908), ex-MSO-515 © Brice Dehasse
    MSO-499 58k Breydel (M 906), ex-MSO-504, F. Bovesse (M 909), ex-MSO-516 and De Brouwer
    MSO-499 107k .
    MSO-499 55k Photo courtesy Raphodon Robert Hurst
    Photo added 11 August 2019
    MSO-499 113k 7 December 2003
    Zeebrugge, Belgium
    De Brouwer, F. Bovesse and Merksem (M 476), ex-MSI-82    		 Paolo Marsan
    De Brouwer
    MSO-498 7k c. January 2007
    Ghent, Belgium
    At scrap yard with De Brouwer on the left and Dufour (M 903), ex-MSO-498 in the center
    Photo courtesy of Daniel Develter and Luc De Weirdt    		 Tommy Trampp
    MSO-499 72k c. January 2007
    Ghent, Belgium
    At scrap yard
    Photo courtesy of Daniel Develter and Chris Van Der Cruysse
    MSO-499 95k 15 June 2007
    Ghent, Belgium
    On the slipways, F. Bovesse is astern of her
    Photo by Peter Wyntin    		 Shipspotting Website
    There is no DANFS history available for MSO-499
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
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