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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive
Courtesy of Al Grazevich


Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Bold (MSO 424)
ex-AM-424



Call sign:
November - Oscar - Romeo - Kilo
Aggressive Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 12 December 1951 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA
  • Launched 14 March 1952
  • Commissioned USS Bold (AM-424), 20 September 1953
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-424, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned 2 July 1971 at Charleston, SC
  • Struck from the Naval Register 28 February 1975
  • Sold for scrap 1 June 1981 to Tuscon One Hour Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio for $45,000.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 630 t.(lt), 755 t.(fl)
  • Length 172'
  • Beam 35'
  • Draft 10'
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 80
  • Armament: As built, one 40mm gun mount and two .50 cal machine guns; Final configuration, 40mm gun replaced by one twin 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns remain
  • Propulsion: Four Packard ID1700 diesel engines, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Bold 10k Norfolk Naval Shipyard 102 Minesweepers Website
    Dick Lewis
    Thrasher 50k . J. Mason
    Bold 89k U.S. Navy photos Joe Radigan
    Bold 76k
    Agile 257k Undated post card
    Caption on back reads:
    U.S. Naval Station
    Charleston, SC
    Atlantic Fleet Minesweepers of Mine Division 83, USS Bulwark (MSO 425), USS Agile (MSO 421), USS Aggressive (MSO 422), and USS Bold (MSO 424), participate in Change of Command Ceremony for Commander Mine Squadron 8
    		 Tommy Trampp
    Bold 114k Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Acadia 87k USS Arcadia (AD 23); Hawkins (DDR 873); McNair (DD 679); Exploit (MSO 440); Bulwark (MSO 425); Aggressive (MSO 422) and Bold
    U.S. Navy photo from the January 1956 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Joe Radigan
    Agile 40k c. 1957
    Patras, Greece
    Agile (MSO 421) (astern), and USS Bulwark (MSO-425) outboard of Bold, during Agile's last Mediterranean cruise
    Photo from 102 Minesweepers Website    		 Robert Hurst
    Thrasher 69k c. 1965
    Off Boston, MA    		 © Richard Leonhardt
    Bold 141k Original photo: Bold, Falcon (MSC 190), Turkey (MSC[O] 56), and Siskin (MSC[O] 58)
    U.S. Navy photo from the November 1965 edition of All Hands magazine
    Replacement photo: c. 1965
    Providence, RI
    U.S. Naval Reserve Mine Division 22    		 Original photo: Joe Radigan
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    Replacement photo added 8 October 2019
    Thrasher 102k c. 1967
    Naples, Italy    		 © Richard Leonhardt
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Douglas Charles Pearson, USN25 September 1953 - 1955
    02LT Charles Clifton Hill, USN.1955 - 1957
    03LCDR Burton Brooks Witham, Jr., USN1957 - 1958
    04LT Robert Edward Brady, USN1958 - January 1960
    05LCDR Horace Greely Smith, Jr., USNJanuary 1960 - March 1961
    06LCDR William Edward Knaebel, USN - USNA Class of 1947March 1961 - 1963
    07LCDR Daniel Joseph Moss, USN1963 - 1965
    08LCDR Louis Pelayo Aldana, USNJune 1966 - 1968
    09LT Thomas Johnny Beatty, USN1968 - 1969
    10LCDR Joseph William Streuli, USN2 July 1971
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    View the Bold (MSO-424)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Ocean Minesweeper (MSO) Photo Index
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo & maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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