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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

MSC-104
ex-AMS-104

MSC-104 served the Navies of Belgium and Norway



Alta (M 314) call sign:
Juliet - Whiskey - Alpha - Uniform

Adjutant Class Motor Minesweeper/Sauda Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down in 1952 as Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper AMS-104 by the Hodgdon Brothers, Goudy and Stevens, East Boothbay, ME
  • Launched 31 January 1953
  • Completed 30 October 1953 and transferred to Belgium and named BNS Arlon (M 915)
  • Reclassified by U. S. Navy as a Coastal Minesweeper, MSC-104, 7 February 1955
  • Returned to U.S. custody in 1966
  • Transferred in May 1966 to Norway, renamed and reclassified HNoMS Alta (M 314)
  • Decommissioned in May 1996
  • Struck from the Naval Register in 1997
  • Transferred to the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces Museum in Oslo, Norway
  • Alta is fully operational. Her regularly scheduled sailings, up to ten per year, include hospitality visits and training.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 405 t.
  • Length 144'
  • Beam 27'
  • Draft 9'
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 40
  • Armament: One twin 20mm mount
  • Propulsion: Two General Motors 8-278A diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image
    Size Image Description Source
    BNS Arlon (M 915)
    MSC-104 78k Entering Ostend, Belgium
    Photo by Maurice Voss
    Shipspotting.com
    HNoMS Alta (M 314)
    MSC-104 64k Robert Hurst
    MSC-104 122k

    There is no DANFS history available for MSC-104
    Additional Resources and Websites 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 Motor Minesweeper (AMS) Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minesweeper (MSC) Photo Index

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