USS ''Kingbird'' (AMS-194) was a acquired by the United States Navy for clearing coastal minefields.

Construction

The second ship to be named ''Kingbird'' was laid down 26 February 1954, as ''AMS-194''; launched 21 May 1954 by the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard, Inc.,

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...

; sponsored by Mrs. Marion Cushman Wilson; reclassified MSC-194 on 7 February 1955; and commissioned on 27 April 1955.

East Coast operations

After

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

, ''Kingbird'' arrived

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 ...

, 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

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terr ...

in the

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. 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 operated out of Charleston.

Decommissioning

''Kingbird'' was struck from the

Navy Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 1 July 1972, and disposed of through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for scrap, 1 March 1973.

Notes

;Citations

Bibliography

Online resources * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingbird Bluebird-class minesweepers Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts 1954 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United States Adjutant-class minesweepers