Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Diploma (MSF 221)
ex-AM-221



Call sign:
November - Charlie - Victor - November


Diploma served the Navies of the United States and Mexico
Admirable Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 1 July 1943 by the Tampa Shipbuilding Co., Tampa, FL
  • Launched 21 May 1944
  • Commissioned USS Diploma (AM 221), 15 July 1944
  • Decommissioned 3 September 1946 at Orange, TX
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists out of commission, in reserve as December 1945
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull), MSF-221, 7 February 1955
  • Transferred to Mexico in 1962 and renamed ARM DM-17
  • Renamed ARM Cadete Francisco Marquez (C 59) in 1994
  • Struck from the Navy list in 2000
  • Sunk in 2004 as an artificial reef off Veracruz, Mexico.

    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 projector (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
    USS Diploma (AM 221)
    Diploma 140k U.S. Navy photo Scott Finegan
    Diploma 74k Dress ship for Washington's Birthday
    Photo by Byron P. Finegan
    Diploma 135k U.S. Navy photo
    Diploma 113k View of the bridge from the fantail
    Photo by Byron P. Finegan
    Diploma 133k Sweep gear damaged by a mine
    Photo by Byron P. Finegan
    Diploma 112k Tampa, Florida some time in July 1944, wearing camouflage 32/21D. The colors should be dull black and light gray
    National Archives photos 19-LCM-AM221-2 and 19-LCM-AM221-3    		 Robert Hurst
    Diploma 102k
    ARM DM-17
    Diploma 131k c. 1970
    Mexican Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Diploma 111 20 November 1988
    Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico    		 Carlos Pizano
    Diploma 128 c. 1988
    Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, Mexico
    Diploma 91 c. 1989
    Near Isla Pérez, off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula
    Diploma 81
    Cadete Francisco Marquez
    Diploma 176k Preparing to be sunk as an artificial reef Israel Sánchez Alcántara
    Diploma 179k
    Diploma 156k
    Diploma 142k
    Diploma 155k
    Diploma 120k
    Diploma 197k
    Diploma 148
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Albert Bickley Baxter, USNR15 July 1944 - 9 December 1945
    02LTJG Frederick Charles Kull, USNR9 December 1945 - 5 May 1946
    03LTJG Byron Primm Finegan, USNR5 May 1946 - 31 August 1946
    04Chief Boatswain Billy Gilbert Angeroth, USN31 August 1946 - 3 September 1946
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and R. A. Moody
    View the Diploma (MSF 221)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    View the Crew photos
    Back to The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Fleet Minesweeper (MSF) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
    All Pages © 1996 - 2023, NavSource History, All rights reserved.