USS ''Fidelity'' (AM-443/MSO-443) was an . Laid down on 15 December 1952 at Higgins Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana; launched on 21 August 1953; commissioned on 19 January 1955; redesignated as an Ocean Minesweeper, MSO-443, 7 February 1955.

Service history

North Atlantic operations

''Fidelity'' first arrived at her home port,

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 ...

, 1 May 1955, and through the next year ranged widely in the western Atlantic, serving with the Mine Countermeasures Station at Panama City, Florida, participating in fleet exercises, and calling at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Between 29 August 1957 and 13 February 1958, she served her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean 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 ...

, joining in sweeping exercises as well as a large scale NATO training operation.

Supporting Middle East Crisis

The minesweeper sailed directly to Beirut, Lebanon, on her 1958 deployment to the Mediterranean, arriving 15 August to support the

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

landed a month earlier to stabilize the critical Middle Eastern situation. After an eight-day visit, she took up a regular Mediterranean tour schedule, which included visits to ports in Greece, Crete, and the Balearic Isles before her return to

, 3 November. Between 24 July 1959 and 11 February 1960, ''Fidelity'' completed a third tour of duty in the Mediterranean, returning to coastwise operations through 1962.

Decommissioning

''Fidelity'' was decommissioned, 19 May 1989; 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 ...

, 16 June 1989; sold for scrapping, 10 September 1990 to Wyns Hoggs for $13,775.

References

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External links

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USS ''Fidelity'' (MSO-443)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fidelity Aggressive-class minesweepers Ships built in New Orleans 1953 ships