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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Falcon (MSC 190)
ex-AMS-190


Falcon served the Navies of the United States and Indonesia.
Falcon Class Motor Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 7 May 1953 by the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard Inc., Quincy, MA
  • Launched 21 September 1953
  • Commissioned USS Falcon (AMS 190), 24 November 1954
  • Reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper MSC-190, 7 February 1955
  • Transferred to Indonesia in 1971 and renamed Pulau Aru (M 722)
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 May 1976
  • Disposed of through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for scrap 1 September 1976.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 362 t.
  • Length 144' 3"
  • Beam 27' 2"
  • Draft 12'
  • Speed 13.6 kts.
  • Complement 40
  • Armament: One twin 20mm mount
  • Propulsion: Four 600shp Packard diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image     		Size Image Description Source
    AMS-201/200/192/191/190 157k Shrike (MSC 201), Redwing (MSC 200), Humming Bird (MSC 192), Frigate Bird (MSC 191), and Falcon at Charleston, SC
    U.S. Navy photo from the June 1956 issue of All Hands magazine    		 Joe Radigan
    MSC-190/192/201 144k MSCs Falcon, Humming Bird (MSC 192) and Shrike (MSC 201) moored alongside MINRON 4 flagship, USS Pandemus
    (ARL 18). YO-129     is outboard
    U.S. Navy photo from the February 1957 issue of All Hands magazine
    Thrush 158k Thrush (MSC 204), Falcon and Nespelen (AOG 55) are moored at Coco Solo, Canal Zone
    U.S. Navy photo from the June 1962 edition of All Hands magazine
    Bold 93k Bold (MSO 424), Falcon, Turkey (MSC[O] 56), and Siskin (MSC[O] 58).
    U.S. Navy photo from the November 1965 issue of All Hands magazine
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG M. J. Schultz, Jr., USN24 November 1954 - December 1955
    02LT Walter T. Kosmela, USNDecember 1955
    03LT H. T. Ketzner, USNMarch 1959
    04LT Edward John Sottak, USNMarch 1959 - 26 June 1961
    05LCDR Virgil Boyd Melvin, USN26 June 1961 - 1962
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Falcon (AMS 190)
    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 Motor Minesweeper (AMS) Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minesweeper (MSC) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
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