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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

May 1954 edition of All Hands magazine

Murrelet (MSF 372)
ex-AM-372



Call sign:
November - Hotel - Zulu - Xray


Murrelet served the Navies of the United States and the Philippines
Auk Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 24 August 1944 by the Savannah Machine and Foundry Co., Savannah, GA
  • Launched 29 December 1944
  • Commissioned USS Murrelet (AM 372), 24 August 1945
    Naval Vessel Register of 1 January 1949 lists plan for decommissioning and placing in reserve as December 1945
  • Reclassified as a Fleet Minesweeper (Steel Hull), MSF-372, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned 14 March 1957
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 December 1964
  • Transferred to the Philippines 18 June 1965 and renamed RPS Rizal (PCE 69)
  • Reclassified as a Patrol Corvette, PS-69
  • Struck from the Philippine Navy list in 1994
  • Overhauled and returned to service in 1995
  • Reclassified PS-74 in 1996
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 890 t.
  • Length 221' 1"
  • Beam 32' 2"
  • Draft 10' 9"
  • Speed 18.1 kts.
  • Complement 117
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 40mm gun mounts, six 20mm gun mounts, one depth charge projector (hedgehog), four depth charge projectors (k-guns) and two depth charge tracks
    1965 - Two 3"/50 dual purpose mounts, four 40mm mounts, and 10 -20mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Two 1,766shp General Motors 12-278A diesel electric drive engines, Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts
    1995 - Two 1,450shp General Motors Electro-Motive Drive 16V-645E6 diesel engines.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Murrelet (AM 372)
    Murrelet 54k Namesake: Murrelet - A small sea bird found chiefly on islands in the northern Pacific Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 23 April 2020
    Murrelet 79k Frank Hall
    Murrelet 52k
    Murrelet 78k Gordon Patterson
    Murrelet 154k Russ Padden
    Murrelet 282k U.S. Navy photo Robert Hurst
    Murrelet 172k Port bow view of Murrelet
    National Archives photo USN 437700    		 Mike Green
    Murrelet 97k U.S. Navy photo from the May 1953 issue of All Hands magazine Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    RPS Rizal (PS 69)
    Rizal 150k U.S. Navy photo Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    Murrelet 143k c. 1971
    Philippine Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    BRP Rizal (PS 74)
    Vigilance & Murrelet 120k The patrol corvettes Rizal, RPS Quezon (PS 70), and an unidentified LST, during combined amphibious Exercise Balikatan 2000
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Murrelet 224k 22 August 2005
    Sulu Sea
    USS Harpers Ferry (LSD 49), rear, steams in company with a combined U.S. Navy and Philippine Navy task group during the at-sea phase of exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) in the Philippines. The task group includes forward from Harpers Ferry, USS Paul Hamilton (DDG 60), USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60), and two Philippine Navy patrol ships, BRP Emelio Jacinto (PS 35) and Rizal. CARAT is an annual bilateral series of military exercises with several Southeast Asian nations designed to enhance interoperability of the respective sea services. The closing of the Philippines phase marks the end of the 2005 exercise series that began May 30 in Singapore
    U.S. Navy photo 050822-N-6264C-145 by Aviation Structural Mechanic 1st Class (AW) William Contreras    		 LCDR Orlando Gallardo, (ESSEX C5I DEPARTMENT HEAD)
    Murrelet 429k 5 July 2011
    Sulu Sea
    Armed Forces of the Philippines Navy corvettes Rizal and the BRP Pangasinan (PS 31) are underway ahead of the guided-missile destroyers USS Howard (DDG 83) and USS Chung-Hoon (DDG 93) during CARAT Philippines 2011
    U.S. Navy photos 110705-N-XR557-190 and 110705-N-XR557-299 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Katerine Noll    		 Robert Hurst
    Murrelet 279k
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR John Edward "Jack" Wagstaff, USN21 August 1945 - 18 October 1945
    02LT Richard Charles Hunt, USNR18 October 1945
    03LTJG Charles Clarence Crumley, USNR27 May 1946 - 20 June 1946
    04LT John William O'Neill, USN - Awarded four Legions of Merit and two Bronze Stars
    Retired as Captain    		28 October 1950 - October 1952
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and R. A. Moody
    View the Murrelet (MSF 372)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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