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


Left patch courtesy of Paul Haaze, right patch Mike Smolinski

Force (MSO 445)
ex-AM-445



Call sign:
November - Oscar - Victor - Mike

Force was lost to fire 24 April 1973
Aggressive Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 26 August 1952 at J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, WA
  • Launched 26 June 1953
  • Commissioned USS Force (AM 445), 4 January 1955
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-445, 7 February 1955
  • Lost by fire off Guam 24 April 1973.

    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 remained
  • Propulsion: Four Packard ID1700 diesel engines, replaced by four Waukasha Motors Co. diesel engines, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Force (AM 445)
    Force 51k 26 June 1953
    Launching    		 J. M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp.
    USS Force (MSO 445)
    Force 116k 102 Minesweeper
    Web Site
    Dick Lewis
    Force 122k Photo from the collection of Mike Sexton Tom Lawson
    Force 581k . Clarence Edwin Baker
    Crew member 1955 - 1958
    Force 152k Yokosuka, Japan
    In dry dock for repairs suffered in Typhoon Emma, 8 - 10 September 1956
    Force 201k
    Force 138k
    Force 152k
    Force 182k
    Force 155k Looking aft at one of the Packard diesel main engines
    Force 120k Side view of one of the Packard diesel main engines
    Force 184k Front view of one of the Packard diesel main engines
    Force 127k General Motors 3-71 diesel generator set
    Force 159k Engineroom gang 1955 - 1959
    Force 192k 3 December 1959
    Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
    Photo by Walter E. Frost from City of Vancouver Archives    		 Michael Mohl
    Embattle 361k 12 June 1963
    From the front to the back: Firm (MSO 444), Force, Reaper MSO-467, Embattle (MSO 434), and Inflict MSO-456    		 Delta Squad
    Force 134k 23 April 1973
    Associated Press photo    		 Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Jack Warren Boller, USN4 January 1955 - 24 November 1956
    02LT/LCDR Emmett Hulcy Tidd, USN - Awarded three Distinguished Service Medals, the Legion of Merit and three Navy Commendation Medals with Combat V
    Retired as Vice Admiral    		24 November 1956 - 1958
    03LCDR Christopher Albert Herbert, USN1958 - August 1960
    04LCDR/CDR Clifford Eugene Schatz, USNAugust 1960 - 2 March 1962
    05LCDR Abdiel Ralph Yingling, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 19492 March 1962 - 19 July 1963
    06LCDR Walter Young Brubaker, USN19 July 1963 - 20 September 1965
    07LT/LCDR Lyman Edward Krekel, USN20 September 1965 - 17 December 1966
    08LT/LCDR George Harlan Hulderman, USN17 December 1966 - 30 October 1968
    09CDR Gilbert Edward Schmidt, USN30 October 1968 - 19 November 1968
    10LT William Benton Powers, Jr., USN19 November 1968 - May 1969
    11LCDR Joseph Clarke Picken, III, USNMay 1969 - August 1970
    13LT Jerry Lee Heitzman, USNAugust 1970 - 30 October 1970
    12LCDR Thomas Morton Mustin, USN - USNA Class of 196230 October 1970 - 1971
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    View the Force (MSO-445)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Minesweeper (MSO) Photo Index
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