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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive


Patch on right courtesy of Mike Smolinski

AM / MSO-449 Impervious

Call sign: November - Mike - Lima - Victor

Aggressive Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 18 November 1951 at Martinolich Shipbuilding Co., San Diego, CA; Launched, 29 August 1952; Commissioned USS Impervious (AM-449), 15 July 1954; Redesignated Minesweeper (Ocean), (MSO-449), 7 February 1955; Decommissioned, 12 December 1991; Struck from the Naval Register, 18 March 1992; Sold for scrapping, 18 August 1994 to NRA Acquisition, Inc., New York, NY, sub-contracted to Wilmington Resources Inc., Wilmington, NC for disposal, Repossessed by Navy after contractor defaulted due to sub-contractor being closed by state of North Carolina for environmental pollution; Sold, 4 December 2000 to Baltimore Marine Industries, Baltimore, MD for scrapping.

Specifications: Displacement 775 t; Length 172'; Beam 35'; Draft 12'; Speed 14 kts; Complement eight officers, 70 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, replaced by four Waukasha Motors Co. diesels, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
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Size Image Description Source
Impervious 141k Ready for christening, during launching ceremonies at the Martinolich Shipbuilding Company shipyard, San Diego, California, on 29 August 1952. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
National Archives Photo 80-G-447598.
Naval Historical Center
Impervious 180k - USS Impervious (MSO-449)
Web Site
Rick Szpyrka
Impervious 45k c. 1971. Pearl Harbor, HI
Photo enhanced by Tom Kermen
USS Impervious (MSO-449)
Web Site
Robert Sterling, Jr.
Impervious 44k - USS Impervious (MSO-449)
Web Site
Robert Sterling, Jr.
Impervious 32k c. 1971. Pearl Harbor, HI
Photo enhanced by Tom Kermen
USS Impervious (MSO-449)
Web Site
Robert Sterling, Jr.
Impervious 64k Impervious, foreground, and Adroit (MSO 509) sit aboard the Dutch heavy lift ship Super Servant 4 as its deck is submerged to permit minesweepers to be unloaded. The Impervious, the Adroit and a third ocean minesweeper, the Leader (MSO 490), have returned to Norfolk, VA after being deployed for 14 months in the Persian Gulf region in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm.
14 November 1991.
Defense Visual Information Center
PHAN Christopher L. Ryan
Impervious 97k Impervious, foreground, and Adroit (MSO 509) sit aboard the Dutch heavy lift ship Super Servant 4 as its deck is submerged to permit minesweepers to be unloaded.
14 November 1991.
Defense Visual Information Center
PHAN Christopher L. Ryan
Impervious 107k Impervious, is moved to the pier after being unloaded from the Dutch heavy lift ship Super Servant 4. 14 November 1991. Defense Visual Information Center
PHAN Christopher L. Ryan
Impervious 96k Impervious, is moved to the pier by the large harbor tug Santaquin (YTB 824), and a civilian tug after being unloaded from the Dutch heavy lift ship Super Servant 4.
14 November 1991.
Defense Visual Information Center
PHAN Christopher L. Ryan
Impervious 39k A work boat comes alongside Impervious, as it sits on the deck of the Dutch heavy lift ship Super Servant 4.
14 November 1991.
Defense Visual Information Center
PH3 Paul A. Hawthorne
Impervious 65k c. December 2000. Awaiting scrapping at Baltimore, MD. Save An MSO Web Site
Dick Lewis

View Impervious (AM/MSO-449) Crew Photos
View the Impervious (AM/MSO-449)
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
USS Impervious (MSO-449)
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) Photo Index

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