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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Mainstay (AM/MSF 261)


Admirable Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 10 April 1943 by the American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, OH.; Launched, 31 July 1943; Commissioned USS Mainstay (AM 261), 21 April 1944; Decommissioned, 6 November 1946 at Bremerton, WA; Placed "in service," 28 November 1947; Placed "out of service," 16 April 1948; Recommissioned, 1 March 1949; Decommissioned, 10 January 1950 at Yokosuka, Japan; Recommissioned, 12 December 1950; Decommissioned, 21 September 1954 at Long Beach, CA and entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet San Diego, CA; Reclassified Fleet Minesweeper (Steel-hulled) (MSF-261), 7 February 1955; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 December 1959; Sold for scrap, 8 August 1960 to National Metal and Steel Corp. Mainstay earned two battle stars for World War II service and four battle stars for Korean War service.

Specifications: Displacement 540 t.(lt), 795 t.(fl); Length 184' 6"; Beam 33'; Draft 9' 9"; Speed 15 kts; Complement 104; Armament one single 3"/50 gun mount, two twin 40mm gun mounts, six single 20mm gun mounts, one depth charge thrower (hedgehogs), four depth charge projectiles (k-guns), two depth charge tracks; Propulsion, diesel-electric, two turbines, twin screws, 1,800shp.
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Mainstay 238k Norfolk, VA, 1942. Hotel Chamberlin at Hampton, VA in background. Jim Tomlinson, whose father, Charles Tomlinson served in Mainstay.
Mainstay 258k Norfolk, VA, 1942. Jim Tomlinson, whose father, Charles Tomlinson served in Mainstay.
Mainstay 246k Norfolk, VA, 1942. Jim Tomlinson, whose father, Charles Tomlinson served in Mainstay.

View the Mainstay (AM/MSF 261)
DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site. The main archive for the DANFS Online Project.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
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