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

Sagacity (MSO 469)
ex-AM-469



Call sign:
November - Juliet - Juliet - Sierra
Aggressive Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 6 October 1952 by the Luders Marine Construction Co., Stamford, Conn.
  • Launched, 26 February 1954
  • Commissioned USS Sagacity (AM-469), 20 January 1955
  • Reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-469, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned and struck from the Navy Register 1 October 1970
  • Sold for scrap in 1971 to Steve B. Clemens of Miami, Fla. for $7,890.

    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
    Sagacity (MSO 469)
    Sagacity 311k 11 January 1955
    National Archives photo ARC Identifier 6933277 from the Bureau of Ships collection    		 Robert Hurst
    USS Sagacity (MSO 469)
    YMS
    110246901    		 658k Sagacity (MSO-469) underway, circa 1955. National Archives Identifier: 6933279
    U.S. Navy Bureau of Ships photo courtesy of catalog.archives.gov via Robert Hurst.
    Sagacity 42k Approaching USS Walworth County (LST 1164) for underway replenishment USS Walworth County (LST 1164) Website
    Sagacity 45k Highlining with USS Walworth County (LST 1164)
    Sagacity 52k Taking on fresh water from USS Walworth County (LST 1164)
    Nimble 56k . Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Nimble 95k
    Nimble 382k These minesweepers look smart and sturdy as they execute coordinated movements in training. Shown are USS Skill (MSO 471), USS Nimble (MSO 459), USS Pinnacle (MSO 462) and Sagacity.
    U.S. Navy photo from the April 1960 edition of All Hands magazine    		 Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    Sagacity 380k 17 March 1968
    Genoa, Italy
    Moored alongside Skill (MSO 471)    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Sagacity 414k
    Sagacity 297k c. March 1970
    Deteyn's Shipyard, Wando, SC
    Damages sustained from grounding at Charleston
    U.S. Navy photos    		 Tommy Trampp
    Sagacity 302k
    Sagacity 292k
    Sagacity 314k
    Sagacity 267k
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Henry Martin Berry, USN20 January 1955 - 18 August 1956
    02LT Clarence Earl Boger, USN18 August 1956 - 20 December 1957
    03LT William McGowan Matthew, USN - USNA Class of 1948-A20 December 1957 - 15 July 1959
    04LCDR/CDR Franzis Joseph Crozier, USN - USNA Class of 194615 July 1959 - 21 July 1961
    05LCDR Winston Whitfield Cornelius, USN21 July 1961 - 1963
    06LT/LCDR Curtis Alvin Sorenson, USN - USNA Class of 1954
    Awarded the Bronze Star (1968) - Retired as Captain    		1963 - 9 July 1965
    07LT/LCDR Robert Lewis Nelson, USN9 July 1965 - July 1967
    08LT/LCDR Warren Reginald Ellsworth, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 1957July 1967 - 1969
    09LCDR Edward Bonner Mann, USN1969 - 1 October 1970
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    View the Sagacity (MSO-469)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo & maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright
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