USS ''Exploit'' (MSO-440) was an . The ship was laid down on 28 December 1951 at Higgins Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana and launched on 10 April 1953. The vessel was commissioned USS ''Exploit'' (AM-440) on 31 March 1954 and redesignated as an ocean minesweeper MSO-440 on 7 February 1955. As built the vessel was armed one single 40 mm

gun mount A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

on the bow and two .50 caliber

machine guns A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

. The ship's final weapons configuration replaced the bow gun with one twin 20 mm gun mount while maintaining the two .50 caliber machine guns.

Service history

USS ''Exploit'' arrived at

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, her home port on 13 March 1955, and began her participation in major fleet exercises, and local and Caribbean Sea training. In 1954, 1957, and 1958, she served with the

U.S. 6th Fleet The Sixth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy operating as part of United States Naval Forces Europe. The Sixth Fleet is headquartered at Naval Support Activity Naples, Italy. The officially stated mission of the Sixth Fleet in ...

in the Mediterranean Sea, participating in exercises and visiting a variety of ports. Her stateside schedule through June 1960 included work in experimental development of mine warfare and defense in Florida waters. On 28 October 1960 USS ''Exploit'' again sailed for duty with the

and remained there through the end of the year. ''Exploit'' was decommissioned on 16 December 1993 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an independent city in southeast Virginia and across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk. As of the 2020 census, the population was 97,915. It is part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. The Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval M ...

. The ship was struck from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 28 March 1994 and sold on 4 December 2000 to Baltimore Marine Industries,

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

, for scrapping.

References

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External links

NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Exploit (MSO 440) - ex-AM-440
{{DEFAULTSORT:Exploit Aggressive-class minesweepers Ships built in New Orleans 1953 ships