MSO 508 Acme
In June 1954, Congress awarded four minesweeper contracts to Frank L. Sample Jr., Boothbay Harbor, Maine. These would become the Acme (MSO-508) class which commissioned 1956-58.
Approximately the same size as, though with improved capabilities over, the Agile (MSO-421) and Aggressive (MSO-422) classes, these Naval Reserve Force ships performed the function of Mine Division flagships.
During the Cold War the US mine warfare concept was designed around a European war scenario which relied on North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to participate substantially in mine warfare operations.
The Navy's MCM capabilities in the Persian Gulf included the surface mine countermeasures (SMCM) capabilities of three 30-year-old USS Aggressive and USS Acme (MSO 422 and 508) class minesweepers. These minesweepers used the AN/SQQ-14 MCM sonar to detect bottom and moored mines and mechanical minesweeping gear to cut mine cables.
Two units of this class were stricken in the mid-1970s, to be sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping, with the remaining two units similarly discarded in the mid-1990s.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
