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USS Frigate Bird (AMS-191)
Encyclopedia
USS Frigate Bird (AMS-191) was a Bluebird-class motor minesweeper
Motor minesweeper
A motor minesweeper is a small minesweeper, powered by an internal combustion engine, very often of wooden construction, designed to locate and destroy mines in coastal waters and harbours...
acquired by the U.S. Navy for clearing coastal minefields.
The second ship in the Navy to be named Frigate Bird, AMS-191 was launched 24 October 1953 by Quincy Adams Yacht Yard, Inc., Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
; sponsored by Mrs. Matthew Gushing; and commissioned 13 January 1955, Lieutenant (junior grade) G. B. Shick, Jr., in command. She was reclassified MSC-191 on 7 February 1955.
East Coast operations
Joining Mine Force, Atlantic FleetUnited States Fleet Forces Command
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
, at Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
, 21 February 1955 Frigate Bird began a program of U.S. East Coast and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
training and experimental operations which continued through 1960. Among her activities were amphibious exercises on the beaches near Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, surveying ocean currents, testing a new type of can buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
, and taking part in fleet exercises of various types. From July 1958, she was homeported at Little Creek, Virginia, and served at frequent intervals with the Operational Development Force.
Decommissioning
Frigate Bird was transferred to IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
in 1971 as Pulau Atang (M721); struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
, 1 May 1976; and, disposed of through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
DLA Disposition Services is part of the United States Defense Logistics Agency...
for scrap, 1 September 1976.