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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive


Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Skill (MSO 471)
ex-AM-471



Call sign:
November - Oscar - Xray - Uniform
Aggressive Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 17 August 1953 as AM-471 at Luders Marine Construction Co., Stamford, Conn.
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-471, 7 February 1955
  • Commissioned USS Skill (MSO-471), 7 November 1955
  • Decommissioned 15 December 1970 and laid up at the Beaumont, TX Group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet
  • Struck from the Navy Register 1 September 1977
  • Sold for scrap by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service 1 April 1979.

    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, two .50 cal machine guns. Bow 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
    USS Skill (MSO 471)
    MSO-471
    110247107    		 676k The U.S. Navy minesweeper Skill (MSO-471) under construction at Luders Marine Construction Co., Stamford, Connecticut, on 8 December 1953. Skill was laid down on 17 August 1953 and was commissioned on 7 November 1955. National Archives Identifier: 6932492
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov, from the Bureau of Ships collection via Robert Hurst.
    MSO-471
    110247100    		 664k The U.S. Navy minesweeper Skill (MSO-471) under construction at Luders Marine Construction Co., Stamford, Connecticut, on 28 February 1955. Skill was laid down on 17 August 1953 and was commissioned on 7 November 1955. National Archives Identifier: 693328
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov, from the Bureau of Ships collection via Robert Hurst.
    Skill 62k Photo courtesy of Dave Venable Dick Lewis
    Skill 84k Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Nimble 382k These minesweepers look smart and sturdy as they execute coordinated movements in training. Shown are Skill, USS Nimble (MSO 459), USS Pinnacle (MSO 462) and Sagacity (MSO 469)U.S. Navy photo from the April 1960 edition of All Hands magazine Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    Skill 361k c. 1960
    Approaching Terrebonne Parish (LST 1156) for highlining and refueling    		 Nick Gardner, QM3 1959/1961 LST-1156
    Skill 506k
    Skill 521k
    Skill 60k c. 1968
    Mediterranean deployment
    Photo courtesy of Dave Vennard    		 Robert Hurst
    Sagacity 380k 17 March 1968
    Genoa, Italy
    Moored alongside Sagacity (MSO 469)    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Skill
    Skill 78k c. 1983
    Kearny, NJ
    Photo courtesy of Dave Vennard    		 Original photo: Tommy Trampp
    Replacement photo: Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Robert Albert Latka, USN7 November 1955 - 1 March 1957
    02LT Robert Erwin Pyle, USN - USNA Class of 1948-A1 March 1957 - 1958
    03LT Kenneth Blair Fader, USN1958 - 1959
    04LCDR George Richard Lathan, USN1959 - 1962
    05LT/LCDR Leighton Dale Smith, USN - USNA Class of 1954
    Retired as Captain    		1962 - July 1964
    06LCDR Francis Leo Carelli, USNJuly 1964 - 27 September 1966
    07LCDR Harry Stillman Quast, USN - Awarded the Bronze Star with Combat V, three Meritorious Service Medals and the Combat Action Ribbon
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		27 September 1966 - 21 October 1968
    08LT/LCDR Gene Paul Kesler, USN - USNA Class of 196021 October 1968 - 16 November 1970
    09LT Dennis Brian Costello, USN - USNA Class of 196716 November 1970 - 15 December 1970
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    View the Skill (MSO-471)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    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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