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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Courtesy of Al Grazevich


Left patch courtesy of Al Hines. Right patchs courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Adroit (MSO 509)
ex-AM-509



Call sign:
November - Charlie - Foxtrot - Romeo
Acme Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 18 November 1954 as AM-509 by Frank L. Sample, Inc., Boothbay Harbor, Maine
  • Launched 20 August 1953
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-509, 7 February 1955
  • Commissioned USS Adroit (MSO-509), 4 March 1957
  • Decommissioned 12 December 1991 and laid up at Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, Portsmouth, VA
  • Struck from the Navy Register 8 May 1992
  • Sold for scrap 15 August 1994 by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service to Wilmington Resources, Inc. of Wilmington, NC for $44,950.00
  • Removed from Reserve Fleet 18 August 1994
  • Scrapping completed in May 1995.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 633 t.(lt), 750 t.(fl)
  • Length 173'
  • Beam 36'
  • Draft 14'
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 78
  • Armament: One 40mm gun mount and two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Four General Motors diesel engines, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Adroit 38k Valletta, Malta Al Hines
    Adroit 49k U.S. Navy photo Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Sturdy 266k c. 1950/1960 era
    Navy Yard Charleston, SC
    Swerve (MSO 495), Adroit, Sturdy (MSO 494) and an unidentified MSO in Dry Dock No, 2. The destroyer Manley (DD 940) and tank landing ship Tallahatchie County (LST 1154) are in the distance.    		 Robert Hall
    Adroit 195k c. 1980s Robert M. Cieri
    Adroit 33k c. 1981 Wilmington, NC Al Hines
    Adroit 280k 23 July 1988
    Elizabeth River, Norfolk, VA
    A starboard bow view of the ocean minesweeper Adroit undergoing overhaul at the Norfolk Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corporation's Brambleton facility. USS Opportune (ARS 41) is in the right background
    U.S. Navy photo DN-ST-88-08273 by Don S. Montgomery, USN, Ret.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Adroit 69k Seen here off Kuwait during operation Desert Storm 102 Minesweepers Website and Piet Sinke
    Adroit 58k A tug pulls the Adroit over Dutch heavy lift ship Super Servant 3 during her deployment to the Persian Gulf War on 19 August 1990. Ocean minesweeper USS Leader (MSO-490) is to the right
    Photo by JO2 Oscar Sosa
    National Archives photo 330-CFD-DN-ST-90-11673    		 Mike Green
    Adroit 61k Original photo: 1 December 1990
    Persian Gulf
    U.S. Navy photo by PH2 Burge
    Replacement photo: During Operation Desert Shield, 1 December 1990
    Photo by PH2 Burge
    National Archives photo 330-CFD-DN-ST-91-03129    		 Original photo: Al Hines
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    Adroit 77k During Gulf I shows the wear after her long days at sea, 1 February 1991
    Photo by JO2 Joe Gawlowicz
    National Archives photo 330-CFD-DN-SC-91-08119    		 Mike Green
    Adroit 84k Ray Mailhot via Al Hines
    Adroit 70k
    Adroit 68k 14 November 1991
    Adroit sits aboard the Dutch heavy lift ship Super Servant 4 at Norfolk, VA as the ship`s deck is submerged to permit her unloading. Super Servant 4 carried her to Norfolk from the Persian Gulf region, where she was deployed for 14 months in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm
    U.S. Navy photo by PH3 Paul A. Hawthorne    		 Defense Visual Information Center
    Adroit 118k 14 November 1991
    Adroit ties up at the pier in Norfolk, VA after being unloaded from the Dutch heavy lift Super Servant 4
    U.S. Navy photo by PHAN Christopher L. Ryan
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Joseph G. Nemetz, USN4 March 1957 - July 1958
    02LCDR Wesley Elvin Lindsey, Jr., USNJuly 1958 - 25 July 1960
    03CDR John James Mingo, USN25 July 1960 - 21 July 1962
    04LCDR Walter Richard Shafer, USN21 July 1962 - 15 September 1964
    05LCDR Compton Eugene Ward, USN15 September 1964 - 25 August 1966
    06LCDR John Deal Holland, USN25 August 1966 - 21 July 1968 - 21 July 1962
    07LCDR Jesse Howell DeLoach, USN21 July 1968 - 27 November 1970
    08LCDR John Francis Doyle, USN27 November 1970 - 4 August 1972
    09LT Walter Garland Strong, Jr., USN - Awarded the Navy Commendation Medal and the Navy
    Achievement Medal    		4 August 1972 - 29 August 1974
    10LCDR Frank Floyd Hewitt, USN - USNA Class of 196729 August 1974 - 26 March 1977
    11LCDR David Van Saun, USN26 March 1977 - 15 July 1977
    12LCDR Douglas Beecher Quelch, USN15 July 1977 - 15 October 1977
    13LCDR Robert Eugene Rankin, USN15 October 1977 - 1 December 1979
    14LCDR William Craig Fillman, USN1 December 1979 - 14 November 1981
    15LCDR Thomas James Dougherty, USN14 November 1981 - 5 September 1983
    16CDR William Ross Graner, USN5 September 1983 - 31 January 1986
    17LCDR David Edward Myers, USN31 January 1986 - 19 February 1988
    18LCDR Ken Van Ourney, USN19 February 1988 - 29 February 1988
    19CDR Francis Dominic DeMasi, USN29 February 1988 - 5 May 1988
    20LCDR Ken Van Ourney, USN5 May 1988 - 5 December 1988
    21LCDR Timothy Robert Hanley, USN5 December 1988 - 1990
    22LCDR Steven Edward Thornton, USN1990 - 23 January 1991
    23CDR William Flemming Barns, USN23 January 1991 - 15 April 1991
    24LCDR Paul Steven Holmes, USN15 April 1991 - 10 June 1991
    25CDR Keith Leon Wray, USN10 June 1991 - 15 November 1991
    26CDR George Jeffrey Fullerton, USN15 November 1991 - 12 December 1991
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Adroit (MSO-509)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
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