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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive


Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

AM / MSO-444 Firm


Firm served the Navies of the United States and the Philippines.

Aggressive Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 16 April 1952 at J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA; Launched, 15 April 1953; Commissioned USS Firm (AM-444), 12 October 1954; Reclassified MSO-444, 7 February 1955; Decommissioned and loaned to the Philippines, 5 July 1972, renamed Davao Del Sur (PM-92); Returned to US custody, 1 July 1977; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 July 1977; Sold for scrapping, 8 July 1977 to Ming Hing and Co., Kowloon, Hong Kong.

Specifications: Displacement 630 t.(lt), 755 t.(fl); Length 172'; Beam 35'; Draft 10'; Speed 14 kts; Complement 6 Officers, 74 Enlisted; Armament, as built, one single 40mm gun mount, two .50 cal machine guns, final configuration, bow gun replaced by one twin 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns remain; Propulsion, four Packard ID1700 diesel engines, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
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Size Image Description Source
Firm 54k Agana, Guam. Ed Livingston
Firm 48k . Ed Livingston
Firm 57k c. 1968. En route from Long Beach to Vietnam for "Market Time" coastal surveillance duty. HMC Don S. Hoyt, USN, Ret.
Firm 62k c. 1970-71, off Vietnam coast 102 Minesweepers web site
Courtesy Dick Lewis
Firm 53k c. 1970-71, off Vietnam coast 102 Minesweepers web site
Courtesy Dick Lewis

View the Firm (AM / MSO-444)
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
102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back To The Mine Sweeper (AM / MSO) Photo Index

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