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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

MSO-500
ex-AM-500


MSO-500 was built for France.
AM-450 Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 23 June 1954 as AM-500 by the Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, WA
  • Launched 7 January 1955
  • Sponsored by Mrs. C. I. Raper
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-500, 7 February 1955
  • Completed 12 December 1955
  • Transferred to France as Berlaimont (M 620), 30 January 1956
  • Scrapped in 1989.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 750 t.
  • Length 171'
  • Beam 35'
  • Draft 11'
  • Speed 15.5 kts.
  • Armament: One 40-mm mount and two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 1,600shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    MSO-500 104k . Gilles Obellianne
    MSO-500 103k . Robert Hurst
    MSO-500 144k
    MSO-500 51k c. 1967
    MSO-500 400k 19 August 1983
    Brest, France    		 Carlo Martinelli
    There is no DANFS history available for MSO-500
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    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 created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & Michael Mohl
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