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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Avocet (MHC 16)
ex-Avocet (AMCU 16)
ex-LCI(L)-653



Call sign:
November - Papa - Papa - Oscar
LCI(L)-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large)/AMCU-7 Class Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator):

  • The second Avocet was laid down 14 June 1944 as LCI(L)-653 by the New Jersey Shipbuilding Co., Barber, NJ
  • Launched 14 July 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-653, 21 July 1944
  • Decommissioned 6 June 1946 and placed in reserve
  • Named Avocet and reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator), AMCU-16, 7 March 1952
  • Recommissioned 9 December 1953
  • Reclassfied as a Coastal Minehunter, MHC-16, 7 February 1955
  • Decommisioned 20 May 1955 at Stockton, CA
  • Approved for disposal 21 December 1959
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 January 1960
  • Acquired by Ron Sumptad of Bethel, AK, renamed Husky II and served as a pilot boat on the Kuskakwim River, Alaska from 1962 - 1986, then as a fish processing tender from 1986 - 2001
  • Scrapped at Homer, Alaska in 2010.

    LCI Specifications

  • Displacement 216 t.(light), 234 t.(landing), 389 t.(loaded)
  • Length 158' 5½"
  • Beam 23' 3"
  • Draft, Light 3'1½" mean, Landing, 2' 8" forward, 41'10" aft, Landing, 5'4" forward, 5'11" aft
  • Speed 16 kts. (max.), 14 kts. maximum continuous
  • Complement 23
  • Troop Capacity 188
  • Cargo Capacity 75 t.
  • Armor 2" plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower and pilot house
  • Endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts. loaded, 500 miles at 15 kt. and 110 t. of fuel
  • Armament: Four 20mm guns one forward, one amidship, two aft, later added two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Fuel Capacity 130 t., lube oil 200 gal.
  • Propulsion: Two sets of four General Motors diesel engines, 4 per shaft, 1,600 bhp, twin variable pitch propellers.

    MHC Specifications

  • Displacement 387 t.
  • Length 159'
  • Draft 5' 8"
  • Speed 14.4 kts.
  • Complement 40
  • Armament Five 20mm mounts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    LCI(L)-702 48k LCI(L)-702 and LCI(L)-653 moored pierside, date and place unknown. Donna Miller in honor of her father, Orvis L. Smith, S1/c,
    USS LCI(L)-702
    View the Avocet (MHC 16) DANFS History
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Amphibious Ship Index Back To The Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minehunter (MHC) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
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