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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Courtesy of Al Grazevich

Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Warbler (MSC 206)
ex-AMS-206

Call sign:
November - Golf - Golf - Bravo

Warbler served the Navies of the United States and the Republic of Fiji.

Redwing Class Motor Minesweeper:

Laid down 15 October 1953 as AMS-206 by the Bellingham Shipyards, Inc., Bellingham, WA

Launched 18 June 1954

Reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper, MSC-206, 7 February 1955

Commissioned USS Warbler (MSC 206), 26 July 1955;

Decommissioned 1 October 1970 and placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training Ship at Seattle, WA

Placed out of service and struck from the Navy Register 1 July 1975

Sold 14 October 1975 to the Republic of Fiji and renamed HMFS Kiro (MSC 206)

Decommissioned 10 October 1995 and deleted from the Fijian Navy list in 1996

Disposed of by being set on fire at position Lat. 18° 09.6' S, Long. 178° 21.58' E. The designated position for disposal was 19° 30' S, 177° 00' E, however, the unfavorable weather and the very poor

material condition of Kiro was such that the mast broke and fell into the sea just as she was being towed out of Suva harbor. Later on the towing pad eye on Kiro was ripped off the deck due to the decks rotten state. Kiro was left to drift onto the reef at the above position and broke in two as she hit the reef. She was doused with fuel and set on fire and burned for some 19 hours. The only pieces left are the ships engines and the very lower part of the hull that is covered at high tide.

Specifications:

Displacement 412 t.

Length 145'

Beam 28'

Draft 12'

Speed 12.8 kts.

Complement 40

Armament: One 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns and one 81mm mortar

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
USS Warbler (MSC 206)
	22k	Namesake: Warbler - A small, brightly colored songbird	Tommy Trampp Photo added 22 March 2020
	37k		Paul Wamsley
	169k	Moored between Widgeon (MSC 208) and an unidentified MSC	Anthony Mongi
	62k	Moored inboard of Vireo (MSC 205)	Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
	88k
	60k	C. 1962 The ships of Mine Division 32. Warbler, Widgeon (MSC 208), Gannet (MSC 290), Whippoorwill (MSC 207) and Woodpecker (MSC 209)
	68k	24 May 1968 National Archives photo USN 1131997	Paul Wamsley
HMFS Kiro (MSC 206)
	91k	23 January 1986 Right to left, the Fijian navy ships Kiro, HMFS Kikau [MSC 204], ex-Woodpecker (MSC 209) and HMFS Kula [MSC 205], ex-Vireo (MSC 205) at Suva Navy Base, on a very foggy morning.	Ray Smith

Commanding Officers
01	LT James Sidle Elfelt, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral	26 July 1955 - 6 October 1956
02	LT Harry Wayne Morgan, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1949	6 October 1956 - 20 December 1958
03	LT Charles Edward Rogers, Jr., USN	20 December 1958 - 1 November 1960
04	LT Richard Ray Tarbuck, USN	1 November 1960 - 11 January 1963
05	LT Ray Marvin Hawkins, USN	11 January 1963 - 27 January 1965
06	LT John Virgil Dirksen, USN	27 January 1965 - 21 October 1966
07	LT Stephen Kent Chadwick, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral	21 October 1966 - 23 April 1968
08	LT Vernon Bennett Paul, USN	23 April 1968 - 5 February 1970
09	LT Jerrold Jay Negin, USN - USNA Class of 1964	5 February 1970 - 1 October 1970
10	LT Jay Rutledge Mason, Jr., USN	1 October 1970 - 1971
11	LT John Mohr McIntosh, Jr., USN(Officer-in-Charge)	1971 - 22 March 1973
12	LT Charles Joseph Yash, USN - USNA Class of 1970	22 March 1973 - 30 June 1975
01	LCDR George Dennis Vaughan, USNR - U.S. Naval Reserve CO Retired as Rear Admiral	1972 - 1 October 1973
02	LCDR Richard Earl Parks, USN/USNR - USNA Class of 1954 U.S. Naval Reserve CO	1 October 1973 - 30 June 1975

Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: The second Warbler (AMS 206) was laid down on 15 October 1953 at Bellingham, Wash., by the Bellingham Shipyards Co.; launched 18 June 1954, sponsored by Mrs. S. A. Blythe; redesignated to MSC-206 on 7 February 1955; commissioned 26 July 1955, at the Naval Station, Tacoma, Wash., LTJG James S. Efelt in command. USS Warbler (MSC 206), coastal minesweeper, nonmagnetic construction, wooden hull and stainless steel, aluminum, and bronze engine and hull fittings.

Following shakedown Warbler reported to Commander, Mine Force, Pacific Fleet, and operated locally out of Long Beach for the next year. In August 1956, in company with Whippoorwill, the minesweeper set sail for the Far East, to assume duties as flagship for Mine Division 32. Home porting out of Sasebo, Japan, Warbler would remain in the Far East over the next 14 years, participating in numerous mine exercises with the navies of other friendly far eastern nations such as South Korea, Nationalist China, the Philippines, and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. Warbler conducted numerous tours of duty on "Market Time Patrol" from 1964-1970.

Departing Sasebo 17 August 1970, Warbler reached the west coast of the United States on 17 September, in company with Catskill (MCS 1), Vireo (MSC 205) and Widgeon (MSC 208). On 1 October 1970, Warbler was decommissioned. Simultaneously placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training (NRT) ship, homeported at Seattle, Wash., Warbler commenced her new duties soon thereafter. She trained reservists out of Seattle into the mid-1970's, and was placed on the sale list in July 1975. On 14 October 1975, she was transferred, via cash sale, to the government of Fiji, until decommissioned in 1991, and deleted in 1996.

Warbler (MSC 206) was awarded seven engagement stars for important services on "Market Time Patrol."

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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Warbler (MSC 206)ex-AMS-206

Warbler (MSC 206)
ex-AMS-206