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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Magpie (MHC 29)
ex-Magpie (AMCU 29)
ex-USS LCI(L)-944



Call sign:
Nan - Yoke - Peter - Item
AMCU-7 Class Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator):

  • Laid down 15 January 1944 by the Consolidated Steel Corp., Ltd., Orange, TX
  • Launched 10 February 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-944, 14 April 1944
  • Named Magpie and reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator), AMCU-29, 7 March 1952
  • Conversion to AMCU-29 began 15 October 1953 at the Charleston Naval Shipyard, Charleston, SC
  • Conversion completed 15 April 1954
  • Reclassified as a Coastal Minehunter, MHC-29, 1 February 1955
  • Magpie was never commissioned
  • Sold 18 May 1960 to Randolph Mattson
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 January 1961
  • Sold to the Tropicana Products Co. of La Ceiba, Honduras and renamed Abaco Trader
  • Still in service in 1981
  • Fate unknown.

    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 two officer, 21 enlisted
  • Troop Capacity, six Officers, 182 Enlisted
  • 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 kts
  • Armament: four 20mm guns one forward, one amidship, two aft, later added two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two sets of four 400bhp General Motors diesel engines, four per shaft, two variable pitch propellers.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS LCI(L)-944
    Magpie 159k Photo courtesy of Mark Muninger from the March 2012 issue of the USS LCI National Association's newsletter, Elsie Item Ardie Hunt
    Magpie 205k Ralph William Blattner posing for a potential cigarette advertisement aboard LCI(L) 944 sometime during WWII
    Photo courtesy of Mark Muninger (Blattner's grandson) from the March 2012 issue of the USS LCI National Association's newsletter, Elsie Item
    Magpie
    Magpie 46k
    Namesake:

    Magpie - Any of numerous birds, especially of the genus Pica, related to the crow, but having a long graduated tail and black and white plumage, who are known for their
    noisy chatter

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 8 December 2021
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG S. Z. Rosenfeld, USNR1945
    Courtesy Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: LCIL-944 was reclassified AMc(U)-29 and named Magpie 7 March 1952. Assigned to the 15th Naval District, Magpie served off the Panama Canal Zone until she decommissioned in January 1954 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Green Cove Springs, Fla. Reclassified MHC-29 on 1 February 1955, Magpie was struck from the Navy list 1 January 1961 after being sold to Rudolph Mattson 18 May 1960.
    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 Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) - (AMCU) Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minehunter (MHC) Photo Index
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    This page was created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & Michael Mohl
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