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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Woodpecker (AMS / MSC 209)


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

Redwing Class Motor Minesweeper: Laid down, 23 June 1954 as AMS-209 at Bellingham Shipyards, Inc., Bellingham, WA; Launched, 7 January 1955; Redesignated as a Coastal Minesweeper MSC-209, 7 February 1955; Commissioned, USS Woodpecker (MSC 209), 3 February 1956; Decommissioned, 15 December 1970 at Seattle, WA and converted to a Naval Reserve Training Ship; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1976 and sold to the Republic of Fiji; Renamed Kiau; Sunk as an artificial reef in 1990.

Specifications: Displacement 320 t.; Length 144'; Beam 28'; Draft 9'; Speed 13 kts; Complement 50; Armament one 40 mm gun mount; Propulsion two 880 shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.


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Size Image Description Source
Woodpecker 89k Drydocked at Yokosuka, Japan.
Photo by ENS Max E. Harksen.
USS Woodpecker (MSC 209) Web Site
Woodpecker 79k . USS Woodpecker (MSC 209) Web Site
Woodpecker 61k Sweeping.
Photo by CAPT Frederick Reeg.
USS Woodpecker (MSC 209) Web Site

View the Woodpecker (AMS / MSC 209) DANFS History

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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