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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Sentinel (MHC 39)
ex-Sentinel (AMCU 39)
ex-LCI(L)-1052
LCI-1052



Call sign:
November - Zebra - November - Echo
AMCU-7 Class Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator):

  • Laid down 8 February 1944 as LCI-1052 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, MI
  • Reclassified as Landing Craft Infantry (Large)
  • Launched 9 March 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-1052, 21 March 1944 under the command of LTJG James A. Cowart, USNR
  • Decommissioned 1 September 1946 at Astoria, OR
  • Reclassified 28 February 1949 as a Landing Ship Infantry (Large), LSI(L)-1052
  • Named Sentinel and reclassified a Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator), AMCU-39, 7 March 1952
  • Conversion began 1 December 1953 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, WA
  • Conversion completed 18 May 1954
  • Reclassified as a Coastal Minehunter, MHC-39, 7 February 1955
  • Sentinel never recommissioned
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 January 1960 and removed from service
  • Fate unknown.

    LCI Specifications:

  • Displacement 216 t.(light), 234 t.(landing), 389 t.(loaded)
  • Length 158'
  • Beam 23' 8"
  • Draft, Light 3' 1½" mean, Landing, 2' 8" forward, 41' 10" aft, Landing, 5' 4" forward, 5' 11" aft
  • Speed 14.4 kts.
  • Complement 40
  • Troop Capacity 188
  • Cargo Capacity 75 tons
  • Armor 2" plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower and pilot house
  • Endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts, loaded, 500 miles at 15 knots; and 110 tons of fuel
  • Armament: Five 20mm guns and two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Fuel Capacity, 130 tons, lube oil 200 gal.
  • Propulsion: Two sets of four 2,320shp General Motors 6051-71 diesel engines, four per shaft, General Motors single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail for full size image Size Image Description Source
    Sentinel 129k "Hornet [CV 12], showing heavy weathering and rust after more than a year of sustained combat and salt water, anchored at Ulithi, Caroline Islands on March 6, 1945 with Air Group 17 on deck. LCI(L)-1052 is in the foreground." Steve Whitby
    Sentinel 121k Enlarged view of above photo Susan J. Philbrick
    Photo added 27 June 2019
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: The fourth Sentinel was laid down as LCI(L)-1052 on 8 February 1944 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Co., Bay City, Mich.; launched on 9 March 1944; and commissioned on 21 March 1944.

    Following shakedown off the east coast, LCI(L)-1052 reported for duty in the Atlantic Fleet on 6 May 1944 but was reassigned to the 19th (Pacific) Fleet Amphibious Force on 19 July.

    On 4 September, the LCI(L) anchored in Kwajalein Atoll and remained there until the 8th when she got underway for Eniwetok. Following installation of Army type radio equipment, LCI(L)-1052 remained in the area ferrying passengers and carrying mail around Eniwetok Island until 12 October.

    That day, LCI(L)-1052 set course for the Caroline Islands and entered Ulithi Channel on the 21st. The LCIL remained in Ulithi Harbor, ferrying recreation parties for Washington (BB-56), until 9 November when she departed the harbor to rendezvous with Cushing (DD-797) and relieve her of a boat in tow. LCI(L)-1052 was busy ferrying passengers and delivering mail and aircraft parts in the Carolinas until 25 May 1945, when she sailed for Leyte Gulf.

    LCI(L)-1052 remained at Tacloban, Leyte Gulf, until 22 July, performing there the same services she had rendered at Ulithi, until hostilities ended.

    In September, she sailed via the Marshalls for Hawaii. On 1 February 1946, LCI(L)-1052 stood out of Pearl Harbor and headed for the west coast. After arriving at San Francisco on the 18th, the landing craft proceeded to Astoria, Oreg., where she reported to the 19th Fleet and was decommissioned in September 1946.

    On 7 March 1952, LCI(L)-1052 was reclassified as AMCU-39, and a contract for her conversion into a minesweeper was placed with the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. Conversion began on 1 December 1953 and was completed on 18 May 1954, but the vessel, now designated Sentinel (AMCU-39), saw no further active service. On 7 February 1955, all AMCU's were redesignated MHC's; minehunters, coastal.

    Sentinel was struck from the Navy list on 1 January 1960.

    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Amphibious Ship Index Back to the Landing Craft Infantry (LCI) Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator) - (AMCU) Photo Index Back to the Coastal Minehunter (MHC) Photo Index
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