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


Contributed by Mike Smolinski

Alacrity (AG 520)
ex-Alacrity (MSO 520)



Call sign:
November - November - Kilo - Sierra
Ability Class Minesweeper:

  • Laid down 5 March 1956 by Peterson Builders, Inc., Sturgeon Bay, WI
  • Launched 8 June 1957
  • Commissioned USS Alacrity (MSO-520), 1 October 1958 at Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, MA
  • Reclassified as a Miscellaneous Auxiliary, AG-520, 1 June 1973 and used for sonar testing
  • Decommissioned, 30 September 1977 at Charleston, SC
  • Struck from the Navy Register 30 September 1977
  • Sold for scrap 1 July 1978.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 934 t
  • Length 190'
  • Beam 36'
  • Draft 12'
  • Speed 15 kts.
  • Complement 83
  • Armament: One 40mm gun mount and two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: Four General Motors diesel engines, two shafts, controllable pitch propellers.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Alacrity (MSO 520)
    Alacrity 303k 8 June 1957
    Mrs. Henry J. Armstrong, the ships sponsor ready to christen Alacrity    		 S. Dale Hargrave
    Alacrity 216k 8 June 1957
    Launching
    Alacrity 187k 8 June 1957
    Afloat
    USS Alacrity (MSO 520)
    Alacrity 159k 1 October 1958
    Commissioning day    		 S. Dale Hargrave
    Alacrity 174k 102 Minesweeper
    Website
    Dick Lewis
    Alacrity 81k U.S. Navy photo Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Alacrity 88k Off Charleston Naval Shipyard, 17 April 1959
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 96626    		 Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory)
    Alacrity 72k The sheer walls of Greece's Corinth Canal tower above Sixth Fleet ocean minesweeper USS Alacrity (MSO 520) as she makes her way from the Ionian Sea to Athens with other ships of Mine Division 45
    U.S. Navy photo from the July 1961 issue of All Hands magazine
    Alacrity 107k c. 1964
    Valletta, Malta
    Photo by A. & J. Pavia from the 1964/1965 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships    		 Robert Hurst
    Alacrity 155k c. 1970
    Naples, Italy
    Moored outboard of Yosemite (AD 19), Sylvania (AFS 2) and two unidentified ships    		 Leland Rogers
    Alacrity 114k c. 1970
    Gathering on the fantail
    Alacrity 191k c. 1970
    Alacrity 118k c. 1970
    In dry dock
    Alacrity 81k
    Alacrity 292k
    Alacrity 67k
    Alacrity 286k
    Alacrity 283k
    Alacrity 276k c. 1971
    Mediterranean Cruise
    Alacrity 304k c. 1971
    Resting on the fantail
    Alacrity 272k c. 1971
    Catching 40
    Alacrity 220k c. 1971
    Alacrity 133k c. 1971
    Naples, Italy
    RM3 Leland Rogers on Mount Vesuvius
    Alacrity 460k 21 September 1971
    Departing La Spezia, Italy    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Theodore Wesley Pstrak, USN1 October 1958 - 8 July 1960
    02LCDR John Thompson Wells, USN8 July 1960 - 15 July 1962
    03LCDR John Bishop Allen, USN15 July 1962 - 23 July 1964
    04LT Paul L. Gruendl, USN23 July 1964 - 16 September 1966
    05LCDR Henry George "Blaze" Vargo, USN - USNA Class of 195816 September 1966 - 24 July 1968
    06LCDR William Francis Carey, USN24 July 1968 - 28 November 1969
    07LCDR James Brian Hitchborn, USN - USNA Class of 196228 November 1969 - 29 May 1971
    08LT Billy Glen Taylor, USN29 May 1971 - 22 July 1972
    09LT Ronald Bryant Moser, USN22 July 1972 - 12 July 1974
    10LT Welbourne Frederick Bronaugh, Jr., USN1 2 July 1974 - 29 June 1976
    11LT William Cotesworth Keller, USN29 June 1976 - 30 September 1977
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Bill Gonyo
    View the Alacrity (MSO-520)
    DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    102 Minesweepers (MSO) Oceangoing Minesweepers
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Mine Warfare Ship Photo Index Back to the Ocean Minesweeper (MSO) Photo Index Back to the Auxiliary Ship Index Back to the Miscellaneous Auxiliary (AG) Photo Index
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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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