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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Harkness (MHC 12)
ex-AMCU-12



AMCU-12 call sign:
November - Charlie - Whiskey - Bravo

ex-AGSC-12
ex-AGS-12
ex-YMS-242

YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper/Harkness Class Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator): Laid down, 1 June 1942 by the Tacoma Boat Building Co., Tacoma, WA; Launched, 10 October 1942; Completed and commissioned USS YMS-242, 27 March 1943; Converted to a Survey Ship, AGS-12, 20 March 1945 at South Coast Shipbuilding Co., Newport Beach, CA; Named Harkness 24 March 1945; Reclassified as a Coastal Survey Ship, AGSC-12, 29 July 1946; Decommissioned, 22 September 1950 at New York; Converted to a Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator), AMCU-12, 18 August 1951 at New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, NY; Recommissioned, 5 September 1951; Reclassified a Coastal Minehunter, MHC-12, 1 February 1955; Decommissioned, 2 April 1958 at Green Cove Springs, FL; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 November 1959; Sold at public auction in 1960. Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 340 t.; Length 136'; Beam 23' 4"; Draft 8' 7"; Speed 14 kts; Complement 60 (AMCU-12 complement 34); Armament, one 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 20 mm, two dct, two dcp (AMCU-12 armament one 40 mm mount); Propulsion two 1,000bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.

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For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Source
USS Harkness (AGS 12)
Harkness 109k Harkness (AGS 12) Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy
YMS-242/262/263 107k In forground at the Brooklyn Navy Yard is Simon Newcomb (AGS 14), Harkness, and James M. Gillis
(AGS 13). Astern is the "mother ship" Tanner (AGS 15). LST-664 is moored at another pier inboard of an unidentified LST.		 George W. Desharnais
USS Harkness (AMCU 12)
Harkness 196k U.S. Navy photo from "Our Navy" magazine Arthur Gendreau
Harkness 94k Panama City, FL
Undergoing underwater explosive tests		 Arthur Gendreau
Harkness 111k Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA
Fuel Oil Barge YO-224 to port with Pidgeon (AM 374) astern		 Arthur Gendreau
Harkness 103k Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA
Fuel Oil Barge YO-224 to port		 Arthur Gendreau
Harkness 207k Off Norfolk, VA Arthur Gendreau
Harkness 134k Little Creek, VA Arthur Gendreau
Harkness 157k Off Little Creek, VA Arthur Gendreau
Harkness 101k Marine Railway, St. Helena Annex, Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA Arthur Gendreau
View the Harkness (MHC 12)
DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
Back To The Main Photo Index
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