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


Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Dominant (MSO-431)
ex-AM-431



Call sign:
November - Lima - November - Bravo
Dash Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 23 April 1952 at Hiltebrant Dry Dock Co., Kingston, NY
  • Launched 5 November 1953
  • Commissioned USS Dominant (AM-431), 8 November 1954
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-431, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned 1 October 1982
  • Sold for scrap 26 January 1984 to Wayne Hobbs of Huntington, CA, for $22,229.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 775 t.
  • Length 172'
  • Beam 35'
  • Draft 12'
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 78
  • Armament: As built, one 40mm gun mount and two .50 cal. machine guns. Final configuration, bow gun replaced by one twin 20mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns remain
  • Propulsion: Two General Motors 8-278A diesel engines, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Dominant 47k 102 Minesweepers (MSO)
    Oceangoing Minesweepers website
    Dominant 55k Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Dominant 344k c. November 1954
    Brooklyn Navy Yard
    Dash/Detector/Dominant 132k c. 1956
    La Spezia, Italy
    Moored outboard of Dash (MSO 428) and Detector (MSO 429)    		 Daniele Todisco
    Dash/Detector/Dominant 130k
    Dash 237k 21 February 1956
    La Spezia, Italy
    Moored outboard of Dash (MSO 428) and Detector (MSO 429)    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Dash 227k
    Dominant 107k Departing Charleston, SC en route to a deployment in the Mediterranean
    U.S. Navy photo from the September 1967 issue of All Hands    		 Joe Radigan
    Dominant 617k Signed photo by her commanding officer LCDR James Runnells Knight dated 18 September 1968
    U. S. Navy photo contributed by Jerry Crow    		 Bill Gonyo
    Dominant, Engage & Leader 344k Leader (MSO-490), Engage (MSO-433) and Dominant in port during the Mariel Boatlift 1980
    U.S. Navy photo by PH3 Greg Hilton from the Wright Langley Collection courtesy of Florida Keys Public Libraries    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Samuel Franklin McMurray, USN8 November 1954 - March 1956
    02LCDR Randolf Fleming Patterson, USN - USNA Class of 1948A1957 - 1959
    03LCDR Jack Lambert Koons, USN17 April 1959 - 1961
    04LCDR William Francis Baker, Jr., USN1960 - June 1963
    05LCDR James Wesley Harris, USN - USNA Class of 1953
    Awarded the Bronze Star and Army Commendation Medal    		June 1963 - 12 April 1965
    06LCDR Dean Marvin Finley, USN12 April 1965 - 5 July 1967
    07LCDR James Runnells Knight, USN5 July 1967 - August 1969
    08LCDR Walter Jay Wiley, USN - USNA Class of 1961August 1969 - February 1971
    09CDR Larry Joe Andrews, USNFebruary 1971
    10LT Wendell Roy Collins, USNFebruary 1971 - 1973
    11LT Thomas V. Blair, USN1973 - 1974
    12LT Grant William Smedley, III, USN1974 - 1975
    13LT Charles T. Ristoricelli, USN1975 - 7 August 1977
    14LCDR Howard David Kirkpatrick, USN - USNA Class of 19657 August 1977 - 1977
    15LCDR Henry Collins Giffin, III, USN - USNA Class of 1967
    Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, four Legions of Merit, the Bronze Star and three Navy Commendation Medals - Retired as Vice Admiral    		January 1979 - August 1981
    16LCDR Craig Pinard Sackett, USNAugust 1981 - 1 October 1982
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves, Bill Gonyo and Joe Radigan
    View the Dominant (MSO-431)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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