USS ''Enhance'' (AM-437/MSO-437) was an
''Aggressive''-class minesweeper acquired by the
U.S. Navy for the task of removing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships.
''Enhance'' was launched 11 October 1952 by
Martinolich Shipbuilding Co.,
San Diego, California; sponsored by Mrs. A. C. Martinolich; reclassified ''MSO-437'', 7 February 1955; and commissioned 16 April 1955.
West Coast operations
From her home port,
Long Beach, California, ''Enhance'' operated along the
U.S. West Coast on training and exercises in mine warfare. She sailed from Long Beach 1 October 1956 for her first tour of duty with the
U.S. 7th Fleet
The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of th ...
in the
Far East. During that fall's crisis over the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
, ''Enhance'' patrolled in the
Sea of Japan, recording the movement of shipping, as part of the intensified alertness required of the Navy during periods of international tension anywhere in the world. She returned to Long Beach 12 April 1957 and resumed her west coast operations.
During her second Far Eastern deployment, from 2 April 1959 to 16 October, ''Enhance'' joined in exercises with minecraft of the navies of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
and the
Republic of Korea. Returning to west coast operations, on 8 January 1960 she rescued four men from an overturned sailboat off Long Beach. In June 1960 she visited
Portland, Oregon. ''Enhance'' spent the remainder of the year conducting type training and undergoing overhaul at San Diego.
Left Long Beach, California in 1971 after an overhaul for operations in Vietnam in December 1972. Swept mine fields of Vietnam to clear Harbors.
On 17 March 1973, during
Operation End Sweep
Operation End Sweep was a United States Navy and United States Marine Corps operation to remove naval mines from Haiphong harbor and other coastal and inland waterways in North Vietnam between February and July 1973. The operation fulfilled an Am ...
, ''Enhance'' had an engine room fire which seriously damaged the ship. ''Enhance'' was towed to Subic bay. Repair cost was $294,000. ''Enhance'' was also disabled by an engine room fire on 5 January 1975 off San Diego.
''Enhance'' was decommissioned in 1991 and struck from the
Navy list in 1992. She was sold for scrapping in 2000.
References
*
*
External links
NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Enhance (MSO 437) - ex-AM-437
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enhance
Aggressive-class minesweepers
Ships built in San Diego
1952 ships