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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

MSC-70
ex-AMS-70
ex-Chukor (AMS 70)


AMS-70 was built for France.
Adjutant Class Motor Minesweeper:

  • Laid down in 1952 as Chukor (AMS 70) by Frank L. Samples, Jr., Inc., Boothbay Harbor, ME
  • Completed 19 May 1953, transferred to France and renamed Acanthe (M 639)
  • The name Chukor was canceled 9 June 1953
  • Commissioned 9 October 1953
  • Reclassified by U. S. Navy as a Coastal Minesweeper, MSC-70, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned in September 1981 and struck from the Naval register
  • Sold 23 November 1984
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 405 t.
  • Length 144'
  • Beam 27'
  • Draft 9'
  • Speed 14 kts.
  • Complement 40
  • Armament: Two 20mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Two 450shp General Motors diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Chukor (AMS-70)
    AMS-70
    110507009    		 638k Chukor (AMS-70). Progress photo, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 22 January 1952. Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933849
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70
    110507010    		 464k Chukor (AMS-70) Progress photo, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 10 July 1952. Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933852
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70
    110507013    		 2.12k Mrs. Thacther B. Pinkham, sponsor of the Chukor (AMS-70), poses with her christening bottle & flowers prior to initiating the vessel into the US Navy, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 25 March 1952. Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933845
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70
    110507011    		 2.30k Chukor (AMS-70) Sponsors Party, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 25 March 1952. Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933846
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70
    110507012    		 1.39k Chukor (AMS-70) Christening, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 25 March 1952. Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933847
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70
    110506900    		 2.94k Left Chukor (AMS-70), right, Bittern (AMS-69).
    Progress photo, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 5 January 1953.     		Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933841
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70 & 71
    110507008    		 555k AMS-71 left, Chukor (AMS-70) right. Progress photo, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 6 March 1953. Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933854
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70
    110507000    		 3.20k Chukor (AMS-70), left, AMS-71 right. The AMS-69 is behind them.
    Progress photo, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 6 March 1953.     		Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933853
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    AMS-70
    110507007    		 2.68k Chukor (AMS-70) Progress photo, Boothbay Harbor, Maine, 4 May 1953. Record Group 19: Records of the Bureau of Ships
    Series: Photographs of U.S. and Foreign Naval Vessels
    National Archives Identifier:6933855
    Photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov
    Acanthe (M-639)
    MSC-70 57k Photo by Marius Bar, Toulon, France Robert Hurst
    MSC-70 381k 25 April 1974
    Toulon, France    		 Carlo Martinelli
    MSC-70 352k
    MSC-68 351k 1 December 1978
    Genoa, Italy
    Camélia (M 671), ex-MSC-68 and Acanthe
    MSC-68 303k
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History:

    Chukor

    A partridge of southern Asia.

    The name Chukor was assigned erroneously to AMS-70 which was building for the Military Defense Assistance Program. The name was canceled on 9 June 1953.

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