Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.


NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

AM-242 Inaugural


Admirable Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 22 May 1944 at Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Co., Winslow, Wash; Launched, 1 October 1944; Commissioned USS Inaugural (AM-242), 30 December 1944; Decommissioned, 9 September 1946 at Galveston, TX; Assigned to the Orange, TX Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet; Reclassified as a Fleet Minewseeper, (Steel Hull) MSF-242, 7 February 1955; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 March 1967; Museum hulk at St. Louis, MO, 1968; Sunk by river flooding, 1 September 1993.

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 two 1,710 shp Cooper Bessemer diesel engines, two shafts.
Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Source
Inaugural 42k Puget Sound, WA
US Navy Photo c. 1945.
Bill Cox
Inaugural 45k c. Autumn 1945, Sasebo Harbor, Japan. Note "Movie Screen" on the bow. Jared Johnson
Inaugural 72k c. March 1946, Terminal Island, CA Original photo by Robert Briggen
USS Inaugural (AM-242)
Web Site
Replacement photo by Jared Johnson
Inaugural 159k c. 1974 aground at St. Louis Robert Briggen
USS Inaugural (AM-242)
Web Site
Inaugural 55k c. 1988 as a tourist attraction at Saint Louis, MO. Jared Johnson
Inaugural 64k Coast Guard photo prior to flood Robert Briggen
USS Inaugural (AM-242)
Web Site
Inaugural 25k Present sad fate of Inaugural Robert Briggen
USS Inaugural (AM-242)
Web Site

View the Inaugural (AM-242)
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
SPECIAL NOTE:
National Historic Landmark - U.S.S. Inaugural (AM-242)
This Site is dedicated to the restoration of USS Inaugural

USS Inaugural (AM 242) - An Online Scrapbook
Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back To The Mine Sweeper (AM) Photo Index

Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster

This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
© 2000-2002 Gary P. Priolo © 2000-2002 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.