USS Direct (AM-430)

History
United States
Name	USS Direct
Builder	Hiltebrant Dry Dock Co., Kingston, New York
Laid down	2 February 1952
Launched	27 May 1953
Commissioned	9 July 1954
Decommissioned	2 October 1982
Reclassified	MSO-430, 7 February 1955
Stricken	1 October 1982
Fate	Sold for scrap, 26 January 1984
General characteristics
Class and type	Agile-class minesweeper
Displacement	620 long tons (630 t)
Length	172 ft (52 m)
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Draft	10 ft (3 m)
Propulsion	2 × General Motors diesel engines 2 × shafts 2 × controllable pitch propellers
Speed	10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	74
Armament	1 × 40 mm gun

USS Direct (AM-430/MSO-430) was an Agile-class minesweeper of the United States Navy. Laid down on 2 February 1952 at the Hiltebrant Dry Dock Co., of Kingston, New York, the ship was launched on 27 May 1953; commissioned on 9 July 1954 by Benjamin H. Dean; and reclassified as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-430, 7 February 1955.

North Atlantic operations

Based at Charleston, South Carolina, Direct operated on mine-sweeping exercises and training with other ships. She also provided services to the Fleet Sonar School at Key West, Naval Mine Defense Laboratory at Panama City, Florida, and Mine Warfare School at Yorktown, Virginia.

From 1 May to 2 October 1957 she cruised to the Mediterranean Sea for duty with the United States Sixth Fleet. On 14 April 1958 her home port was changed to Yorktown, Virginia, and on 15 January 1959 to Little Creek, Virginia. Between 27 April and 27 August 1959 she served again in the Mediterranean, then served in amphibious exercises and other operations through 1962.

Decommissioning

Direct was decommissioned on 2 October 1982; struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 October 1982; and sold for scrap on 26 January 1984 to Wayne Hobbs, Huntington, California, for US$22,229 (equivalent to $62,614 in 2022).

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Direct (AM-430/MSO-430) at NavSource Naval History

This page was last edited on 7 July 2023, at 15:26