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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

YMS-218 / AMS-8 / MSC(O)-8 Curlew


Curlew served the Navies of the United States and the Republic of Korea.

YMS-1 Class Auxiliary Motor Minesweeper: Laid down, 18 July 1942 by the J. N. Martinac Ship Building Co., Tacoma, Washington; Launched, 23 December 1942; Completed and commissioned USS YMS-218, 23 June 1943. She served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater during World War II, and took part in occupation activities in late 1945 and early 1946. In early 1947, after returning to the U.S. West Coast, she was placed out of commission. YMS-218 was reclassified as a Motor Minesweeper and named Curlew (AMS-8), 18 February 1947. Curlew recommissioned in June 1949. She was sent to the Western Pacific a year later to support Korean War operations. During most of that conflict, she was active in the combat zone, performing mine clearance and blockade missions. Curlew remained in the Japan-Korea area after the war ended in mid-1953. She was redesignated a Coastal Minesweeper, (Old) MSC(O)-8, 7 February 1955; Transferred to South Korea, 6 January 1956; Renamed Kum Hwa (MSCO 519); Discarded about 1977.

Specifications: Displacement 270 t.; Length 136'; Beam 24' 6"; Draft 8'; Speed 15 kts; Complement 32; Armament one single 3"/50 gun mount, two 20mm, two dcp; Propulsion two 1,000 shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
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Defense 73k 8 October 1952. Laertes (AR-20) at Sasebo, Japan with nine minesweepers and a harbor tug alongside. Ships nested to starboard of Laertes are (from left):
Impeccable (AM-320);
Gladiator (AM-319);
Shoveler (AM-382);
Defense (AM-317),
and
Devastator (AM-318).
Those nested to port are (from left):
Condor (AMS-5);
Kite (AMS-22);

Curlew;
Chatterer (AMS-40), and
Wallacut (YTB-420)
US Navy photo 80-G-63229
Naval Historical Center
AMS-8 75k Curlew, Mockingbird (AMS 27), Heron (AMS 18), and Gull (AMS 16) nested at Sasebo, Japan. c. 1953. Wayne Schafer
AMS-8 69k Approaching Heron to port. c. 1953. Wayne Schafer
AMS-8 46k Alongside Heron. c. 1953. 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 Curlew (AMS-8)
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
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