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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Starboard elevation drawing of USS Density (AM 218)

Density (MSF-218)
ex-Density (AM 218)



Call sign:
Nan - Charlie - Sugar - How
Admirable Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 21 March 1943 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, FL
  • Launched 6 February 1944
  • Commissioned USS Density (AM 218), 15 June 1944
  • Placed "in commission, in reserve" 14 May 1946 and laid up in the Reserve Fleet, Orange, TX
  • Decommissioned 3 March 1947 at Orange
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists out of commission, in reserve as December 1945
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull), MSF-218, 7 February 1955
  • Sold in February 1955 for use as a Greek cargo ship and renamed Manoula
  • Sold again in September 1964 to a Texas Consortium for use as an offshore radio station and renamed M/V Galaxy
  • Sold for scrap in 1970
  • Sunk in the shipyard of Howaldswerke-Deutsche Werft, Kiel, Germany
  • Raised in August 1986 and scrapped.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 945 t.(fl)
  • Length 184' 6"
  • Beam 33'
  • Draft 9' 9"
  • Speed 14.8 kts.
  • Complement 104
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount, one twin 40mm gun mount, six 20mm gun mounts, one depth charge thrower (hedgehogs), four depth charge projector (K-guns) and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 1,710shp Cooper Bessemer GSB-8 diesel engines, National Supply Co. single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Density (AM 218)
    Density 62k Building Ways, Tampa Shipbuilding Co.
    U.S. Navy photo
    Density 66k 6 February 1944
    Prior to launching.
    U.S. Navy photo
    Density 68k 6 February 1944
    After launching.
    U.S. Navy photo
    USS Density (AM 218)
    Density 194k Tampa, Florida some time in July 1944, wearing camouflage 32/21D. The colors should be dull black and light gray
    National Archives photo 19-LCM-AM218-2    		 Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Density 208k Original photo: Port bow view
    U.S. Navy photo
    Replacement photo: At Tampa, FL in July 1944, wearing camouflage 32/21D
    National Archives photo 19-LCM-AM218-1    		 Replacement photos: Ships of the U.S. Navy in WWII “Dazzle” Camouflage
    Density 136k Original photo: Starboard bow view.
    U.S. Navy photo
    Replacement photo: At Tampa, FL in July 1944, wearing camouflage 32/21D
    National Archives photo 19-LCM-AM218-2
    Density 142k Original photo: Starboard quarter view.
    U.S. Navy photo
    Replacement photo: Starboard quarter at Tampa, Florida in July 1944, wearing camouflage 32/21D
    National Archives photo 19-LCM-AM218-5
    M/V Galaxy
    Galaxy 55k Anchored in the Thames Estuary, England Radio London
    Galaxy 70k
    Galaxy 50k
    Galaxy 367k c. December 1964
    Off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England
    This photograph was taken a week before Radio London came on air
    Photo from Pirate Radio: An Illustrated History by Keith Skues and David Kindred    		 Robert Hurst
    Galaxy 275k c. 1965
    MV Galaxy in background anchored off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England. In the foreground the Radio London Disk Jockey Dave Lee Travis takes a ride back to land in the supply tender
    Photo from Pirate Radio: An Illustrated History by Keith Skues and David Kindred
    Galaxy 262k c. 1965
    Photo from Pirate Radio: An Illustrated History by Keith Skues and David Kindred
    Galaxy 296k c. Summer 1966
    Off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England
    This photograph was taken from the supply tender
    Photo from Pirate Radio: An Illustrated History by Keith Skues and David Kindred
    Galaxy 153k c. 1986
    Kiel, Germany    		 John S. Platt
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Russell Edwin Forrester, Jr., USNR15 June 1944 - 8 December 1945
    02LT Walter Albert Smith, Jr., USNR8 December 1945 - 23 March 1946
    03LTJG W. S. Barton, USNR23 March 1946 - 23 September 1946
    04LT Sam Howard Moore, USN - Awarded the Legion of Merit (1965) and the Navy Commendation Ribbon (1945)
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		23 September 1946 - 21 November 1946
    05LCDR Joseph Allen Matthews, USN21 November 1946 - 2 January 1947
    06ENS Francis George Crawford, USN2 January 1947 - 3 March 1947
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves, R. A. Moody and Joe Radigan
    View the Density (MSF 218)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Fleet Minesweeper (MSF) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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