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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Grosbeak (MSC[O] 14)
ex-Grosbeak (AMS 14)
ex-YMS-317



Call sign:
November - Papa - Whiskey - Foxtrot
YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper:

  • The fourth Grosbeak was laid down 30 October 1942 as YMS-317 by the South Coast Co., Newport Beach, CA
  • Launched 27 February 1943
  • Commissioned USS YMS-317, 18 November 1943
  • Decommissioned 2 January 1947
  • Named Grosbeak and reclassified as a Motor Minesweeper, AMS-14, 18 February 1947
  • Reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper (Old), MSC(O)-14, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned 7 December 1955 at Green Cove Springs, FL
  • Struck from the Navy Register 1 November 1959
  • Acquired in 1961 by Marine Acoustical Services, Inc. of Miami, FL for use as a research vessel and renamed Paul Langevin
  • Marine Acoustical was under contract with the Military Sealift Command to conduct underwater sound research in the Labrador Basin for the Naval Underwater Systems Center, Newport, RI
  • Out of documentation in 1963
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 270 t.
  • Length 136'
  • Beam 24' 6"
  • Draft 8'
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 32
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 20mm mounts and two depth charge projectors
  • 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
    Grosbeak 152k
    Namesake:

    Any of several species of finches, having a thick, strong, conical bill

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 10 December 2021
    YMS-317 306k In the background are USS Knapp (DD-653), USS Ingersoll (DD-652) and other ships, possibly at Norfolk, Virginia
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo L45-112.04.01    		 Mike Green
    YMS-317 45k Joe Radigan
    Commanding Officers
    01LT John B. Warner, USNR18 November 1943
    02LT G. A. Cope, Jr., USNR1945
    03LTJG Wyatt Eugene Harper, Jr., USN1950 - June 1952
    04LTJG James Lloyd Moss, USN - USNA Class of 1947June 1952 - May 1953
    05LT Cyril J. Hartman, Jr., USNRMay 1953
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Grosbeak MSC[O] 14)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper (YMS) 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 (of blessed memory) & Michael Mohl
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