USS KINGBIRD MSC 194

History

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Photos

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COMMANDING OFFICERS

LTJG Robert E.Alder
1955-195?
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LT F.L.Boswell Jr.
1964
LT Edward E.Alexander Jr.
1965
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LT M.S.Fry
Jan 1967-Oct 1968
LT David J.Barram  OIC
1968-1969
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Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal-1
07 AUG 1965-09 OCT 1965 for Dominican Republic
Navy Expeditionary Medal-2
27 JAN 1961-27 APR 1961 for Cuba
30 OCT 1961-13 JAN 1962 for Cuba

The second Kingbird (MSC-194) was launched 21 May 1954 by the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard Inc., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Marion Cushman Wilson; and commissioned 27 April 1955, Lt. (j.g.) R. E. Alder, in command.
 
After shakedown, Kingbird arrived Charleston, S.C., for minesweep training and for the entire year she perfected methods of detecting and destroying mines. She also participated in exercises which kept her ready for any service she might be called upon to perform. From 1956 through 1964 Kingbird engaged in minesweeping exercises along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to the Canal Zone in the Caribbean. During 1965 she displayed her versatility in two search operations: one for a downed Navy plane and the other a lost merchant ship. In 1967 she still operates out of Charleston.

I was the Executive Officer for a relatively short time, while in the Navy Reserve in Pensacola.  Unfortunately, a Sea/Land barge broke her mooring lines during a sudden, freak wind, crossed the slip and banged into the Kingbird a number of times.  The ship was subsequently deemed too expensive to repair and decommissioned in 1972.
 Darryl W.(Dusty) Rhodes CDR USNR RET.

Members of the minesweeping community; The Lucid MSO-458 Foundation was formed by a group of minesweeper crewmen who served aboard US Navy MSO's. MSO's are a class of wooden hull oceangoing minesweepers that are now decommissioned and fading from public memory. The group has obtained the USS Lucid MSO-458 and has her docked at Bradford Island, California. Work has begun! The organization is restoring her and a public museum is established. The MSO is a little known and poorly documented, extremely interesting facet of Naval history. The USS Lucid Museum is dedicated to telling the story of the minesweeping men and their wooden ships, the last all wooden US Naval ships, to navigate the oceans. We will be telling the stories of Mine Recovery and UDT teams, Floating Pigs, Hammer Boxes, Magtails, Aluminum Engines and Towed Sonar. The little known stories of Contact, Magnetic and Acoustic minesweeping as well as the mystery of Magnetic Countermeasures will be told through the displays, narratives and museum media. Typhoons, tiny ships and ice-clad superstructures are only a small part of the "Wooden Ships and Iron Men" story. From sweeping the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, observing the final Nuclear blasts on Johnston Island to sweeping the Persian Gulf, "Where the Fleet Goes, We've Been" will be clearly illustrated. Since there is no other Naval Museum that even attempts to tell the story of the MSO the USS Lucid is an important and living detail of US Naval History. First, Lucid must undergo a restoration. Previous civilian owners for commercial use have modified her. She needs hull repairs and painting and re-outfitting to be brought back to her former Naval dignity and glory. The Lucid MSO-458 Foundation has a workforce of planners, engineers and volunteer manpower who are vested and committed to this grand and worthy project. Bringing her to life is a large financial undertaking. We’re looking for tax-exempt gifts from the Military Industrial sector and individuals to help with this extremely valuable endeavor. Of course, all donors will be properly and prominently acknowledged aboard the vessel. Your donation will help preserve this vital part of Naval History. Please join us in telling the MSO story by sending a tax-exempt gift to Lucid MSO-458 Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation through our website. http://www.usslucid.org
W.W."Mike"Warren EN2

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Kingbird@military.com

MESOTHELIOMA