Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Merganser (MHC 47)
ex-AMCU-47
ex-AMS-26
ex-YMS-417



YMS-417 call sign:
Nan - Peter - William - Queen
YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Mine Sweeper:

  • Laid down 9 January 1944 at Stadium Yacht Basin, Cleveland, Ohio
  • Launched 29 June 1944
  • Completed 10 November 1944
  • Commissioned USS YMS-417, 11 November 1944
  • Reclassified as a Motor Minesweeper, AMS-26, 17 February 1947 and named Merganser
  • Converted to a Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) and reclassified AMCU-47, 1 October 1954
  • Reclassified as a Coastal Minehunter, MHC-47, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned 2 April 1958 at San Diego, CA and laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, San Diego Group
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 May 1959
  • Sold for scrap 5 May 1960 to Hilburg and Trupin of Los Angeles, CA
  • Sold again in 1960 to an unknown buyer in the United Kingdom
  • Sold in 1971 to William F. Craig of Curtice, OH
  • Converted to a yacht and renamed Miss Juanita
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 270 t.
  • Length 136'
  • Beam 24' 6"
  • Draft 8'
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 32
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 20mm mounts and two depth charge projectors
  • Propulsion: Two 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    YMS-417
    YMS-417 54k Fitting out at the Stadium Yacht Basin, Cleveland, Ohio, 10 July 1944.
    U. S. Navy photos 19-N-67893 and 19-N-67894    		 Naval Historical Center
    YMS-417 95k
    USS Merganser (AMS 26)
    Merganser 124k Opening of Wonsan, October 1950. Merganser tied up to Conserver (ARS-39) in Wonsan Harbor, Korea. Photographed by AFAN W.C. Newbill. The original photo is dated 23 October 1950. Note navigation buoy on Conserver's after deck and ships in background, including another AMS and a high-speed minesweeper (DMS).
    National Archives photo 80-G-422161    		 Naval Historical Center
    Chatterer 146k Mine Division 31 tied up at Yokosuka, following mine clearance activities off Korea. From left to right: Merganser; Osprey (AMS-28); Chatterer (AMS-40), and
    Mockingbird AMS-27)
    Original dated 30 November 1950
    National Archives photo 80-G-424597
    AMS-5 Condor/LST-735 Dukes County 88k c. 1952/1954
    Dukes County (LST-735) serving as mother ship for seven minesweepers, probably in a Japanese port
    Ships nested alongside are: Gull, Firecrest (AMS-10), Condor (AMS-5), Merganser (AMS-26), Osprey (AMS-28), Competent (AM-316), and Chief (AM-315).
    Courtesy U.S. Naval Institute, James C. Fahey Collection
    U.S. Navy photo NH 68589
    USS Merganser (MHC 47)
    Merganser 91k c. 1955-58
    U. S. Navy photo 1045939    		 Naval Historical Center
    Miss Juanita
    Miss Juanita 56k . Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    Commanding Officers
    ??LT Thomas Richard Bailey, USN1953
    ??LT James Walsh Farley, USN1958
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Merganser (AMS-26)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Naval Minewarfare Association
    Association of Minemen
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back To The Auxiliary Minesweeper (YMS) Photo Index Back To The Motor Mine Sweeper (AMS) Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) - (AMCU) Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minehunter (MHC) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History