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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Heron (MSC[O] 18)
ex-AMS-18
ex-YMS-369



Call sign: November - Charlie - Uniform - Xray



Heron served the Navies of the United States and Japan.
YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper: Laid down, 13 January 1943 by the Wheeler Shipbuilding Corp., Whitestone, Long Island, NY; Launched, 24 July 1943; Completed and commissioned USS YMS-369, 9 October 1943; Decommissioned, 2 March 1946; Reclassified as a Motor Minesweeper, AMS-18 and named Heron, 17 February 1947; Recommissioned, 15 July 1949; Reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper, (Old), MSC(O)-18, 7 February 1955; Decommissioned, 21 March 1955 and turned over to the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force as Nuwajima (MCS 657); Returned to U.S. Navy custody, 31 March 1967 and struck from the Naval Register; Sunk as a target 1 August 1969 by the Japanese Maritime Staff Office.

Specifications: Displacement 207 t.; Length 136'; Beam 24' 6"; Draft 6'; Speed 13 kts; Complement 50; Armament one single 3"/50 gun mount, two 20mm, two dcp; Propulsion two General Motors diesels, 1,000 bhp, two shafts.

Click On Image
For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Source
Heron 93k c. 1952
Off Yang-do Islands, Korea.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 41k c. November 1952
In dry dock, Sasebo, Japan.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 19k c. November 1952
In dry dock with APL-30, Sasebo, Japan.		 Wayne Schafer
Officers 83k c. December 1952
Officers of the Heron, (left to right) LTJG George Thompson, Executive/Operations Officer, later CO (It pays to wear a white hat); LT Jack Ross, Commanding; LTJG Wayne Schafer, Engineering Officer; and LTJG Steve Watson,
Minesweeping Officer.		 Wayne Schafer
LTJG 62k c. January 1953
LTJG Schafer standing OOD during sweep operations. Songjin area.		 Wayne Schafer
AMS-8 75k c. 1953
Curlew (AMS 8), Mockingbird (AMS 27), Heron (AMS 18), and Gull (AMS 16) nested at Sasebo, Japan.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 54k c. 1953
Yokosuka, Japan.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 43k c. 1953
Anchored at Songjin, Korea.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 18k c. 1953
Mine exploding that had fouled in sweep gear off Hungnam, Korea.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 117k c. 1953
Sweep operations, Korea.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 27k c. 1953
Relaxed sweep operations, Korea.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 41k c. 1953
Yokosuka, Japan
Quarterdeck on Heron.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 47k c. 1953
At Yokosuka, Japan.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 75k c. March 1953
At Yokosuka, Japan for overhaul.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 72k c. March 1953
At Yokosuka, Japan for overhaul.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 78k c. March 1953
At Yokosuka, Japan for overhaul.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 62k c. March 1953
At Yokosuka, Japan for overhaul.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 48k c. March 1953
Heron and Firecrest (AMS 10) in dry dock at Yokosuka, Japan.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 23k c. 1953
Mine detonated by small arms fire off Wonson, Korea.		 Wayne Schafer
Heron 134k Officers of the Heron and Curlew at the South Korean Naval Base at Chinhae, 27 July 1953. The occasion was a courtesy visit by the Heron and the Curlew. The date was significant because it was the date of the signing of the armistice agreement at Panmunjom ending the Korean War. The South Koreans present were not pleased that the conflict was ending without a definitive result. Wayne Schafer
Heron 129k Chinhae, 27 July 1953. Wayne Schafer
Heron 128k Chinhae, 27 July 1953. Wayne Schafer
View the YMS-369 / Heron (AMS 18)
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
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Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
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