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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive

Avocet (MHC 16)
ex-Avocet (AMCU 16)
ex-LSI(L)-653
ex-LCI(L)-653



Call sign:
November - Papa - Papa - Queen
LCI(L)-351 Class Landing Craft Infantry (Large)/AMCU-7 Class Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator):

  • The second Avocet was laid down 14 June 1944 as LCI(L)-653 by the New Jersey Shipbuilding Co., Barber, NJ
  • Launched 14 July 1944
  • Commissioned USS LCI(L)-653, 21 July 1944
  • Decommissioned 6 June 1946 and placed in reserve
  • Reclassified LSI(L)-653, 28 February 1949
  • Named Avocet and reclassified as a Coastal Minesweeper (Underwater Locator), AMCU-16, 7 March 1952
  • Recommissioned 9 December 1953 at Puget Sound Navy Yard
  • Reclassified as a Coastal Minehunter, MHC-16, 7 February 1955
  • Decommissioned 20 May 1955 at Stockton, CA
  • Approved for disposal 21 December 1959
  • Struck from the Naval Register 1 January 1960
  • Acquired in 1961 by John J. Zappone dba Franco-Zappone Enterprises of Spokane, WA and renamed Keystone
  • Acquired in 1962 by Oddmund M. Sumstad of Seattle, WA, renamed Husky II and served as a pilot boat on the Kuskakwim River, Alaska
  • Acquired in 1978 by Ronald D. Sumptad of Seward, AK
  • Acquired in 1999 by Denis Douglas of Soldotna, AK
  • Out of documentation in 2003 and reported in custody of the Coast Guard at Seldova, AK
  • Scrapped at Homer, Alaska in 2010.

    LCI Specifications

  • Displacement 216 t.(light), 234 t.(landing), 389 t.(loaded)
  • Length 158' 5½"
  • Beam 23' 3"
  • Draft, Light 3'1½" mean, Landing, 2' 8" forward, 41'10" aft, Landing, 5'4" forward, 5'11" aft
  • Speed 16 kts. (max.), 14 kts. maximum continuous
  • Complement 23
  • Troop Capacity 188
  • Cargo Capacity 75 t.
  • Armor 2" plastic splinter protection on gun turrets, conning tower and pilot house
  • Endurance 4,000 miles at 12 kts. loaded, 500 miles at 15 kt. and 110 t. of fuel
  • Armament: Five 20mm guns one forward, two amidship, two aft, later added two .50 cal. machine guns
  • Fuel Capacity 130 t., lube oil 200 gal.
  • Propulsion: Two sets of four General Motors 6-71 diesel engines, 4 per shaft, 1,600bhp, twin variable pitch propellers.

    MHC Specifications

  • Displacement 387 t.
  • Length 159'
  • Draft 5' 8"
  • Speed 14.4 kts.
  • Complement 40
  • Armament: Five 20mm mounts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    LCI(L)-653
    Avocet 128k LCI(L)-653 General Arrangements
    Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record Control Number ak0557    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photos added 28 April 2021
    Avocet 117k
    USS LCI(L)-653
    LCI(L)-702 48k LCI(L)-702 and LCI(L)-653 moored pierside, date and place unknown Donna Miller in honor of her father, Orvis L. Smith, S1/c,
    USS LCI(L)-702
    LCI(L)-653 72k c. Fall 1945/January - February 1946
    Moored at Guam, Marianas
    U.S. personnel waiting to board ships to return home after conclusion of World War II    		 J. Hoffman in honor of his father, W. Hoffman, (USAF)
    USS Avocet (AMCU 16)
    Avocet 19k
    Namesake:

    Avocet - A long-legged, web-footed shore bird possessing a slender, up-curved bill, found in western and southern states

    		 Tommy Trampp
    MV Husky II
    Avocet 122k MV Husky II General Arrangements
    Library of Congress, Historic American Engineering Record Control Number ak0557    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 28 April 2021
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Thomas E. Hamilton, USNR21 July 1944
    02LT James E. McMullen, USN9 December 1953
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Avocet (MHC 16) DANFS History
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan (of blessed memory) & David Wright

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