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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

MSO-451
ex-AM-451



Bir Hakeim call sign:
Foxtrot - Alpha - Sierra - India



Maldanado call sign:
Charlie - Whiskey - Bravo - India


MSO-451 served the Navies of France and Uruguay.
AM-450 Class Fleet Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 21 March 1952 as AM-451 by Bellingham Shipyards Co., Bellingham, WA
  • Launched 10 January 1953
  • Completed 24 February 1954
  • Transferred to France and named Bir Hakeim (M 614), 16 March 1954
  • Reclassified by U. S. Navy as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-451, 7 February 1955
  • Returned to U. S. Navy custody 4 September 1970
  • Transferred to Uruguay in 1970 and renamed Maldanado (MS 33)
  • Struck from the Naval Register in 1979
  • Scrapped 18 September 1979.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 750 t.
  • Length 171'
  • Beam 35'
  • Draft 10' 4"
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 39
  • Armament: One 40mm mount and two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 800shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Bir Hakeim (M 614)
    MSO-451 118k c. March 1954
    Moored to Pier 91 at Naval Station, Seattle, Washington still wearing her U.S. Navy hull number
    National Archives photo 80-G-636099 from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    MSO-451 118k c. 1962
    Brest, France
    Outboard of Colmar (M 624), ex-MSO-514 and the destroyer Le Malin (D 612)    		 Robert Hurst
    Maldonado (MS 33)
    Maldonado 75k
    There is no DANFS history available for AM-451
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