USS ''Parrot'' (AMS/MSC-197) was a in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for clearing coastal minefields.

Construction

''Parrot'' was laid down 23 December 1953, as AMS–197, by Broward Marine, Inc.,

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, Florida; launched on 27 November 1954; sponsored by Mrs. S. Heuer; reclassified MSC–197 on 7 February 1955; and commissioned on 28 June 1955.

North Atlantic operations

After fitting out and training, ''Parrot'', along with four other minesweepers, participated in cold weather minesweeping exercises in the North Atlantic. ''Parrot'' then moved to Charleston, South Carolina, her base for exercises and training operations in the Caribbean and the Gulf Stream. She remained there until January 1958, when she sailed north to participate in her first

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

exercise. In February 1958, ''Parrot'' was dispatched to the waters off

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

, to participate in a search for a nuclear weapon jettisoned by a bomber. Upon completion, she returned to the Caribbean area where she remained into 1961, conducting training exercises and serving as training ship for the Mine Warfare School. In March 1961, she assisted in helping to evaluate the new

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

method of minesweeping. After completion of this duty, she returned to her training and patrol duties. On 22 October 1962, ''Parrot'' was ordered to get underway, with no destination being specified. She was later directed to assist in the Cuban Quarantine operation. After this duty, she returned to Charleston. Once again she resumed her training and patrolling duties. On 1 March 1963, she left Charleston with orders to search for the overdue . Finding nothing, ''Parrot'' returned to port on 18 March. Resuming patrol duties and training exercises, ''Parrot'' also made annual deployments to the Caribbean until August 1968.

Decommissioning and reassignment

Decommissioned and placed in service on 26 September 1968, ''Parrot'' became a Naval Reserve Training Ship at Atlantic City. Placed out of service on 20 July 1972, and struck from the

Naval Vessel 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 August 1972, ''Parrot'' was sold by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for scrapping on 1 December 1976.

Notes

;Citations

Bibliography

Online resources * *

External links

*
Unit Pages - USS ''Parrot'' (MSC-197)

"Wooden Ships & Iron Men" : USS ''Parrot'' (MSC-197)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parrot (MSC-197) Bluebird-class minesweepers Ships built in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 1954 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United States Adjutant-class minesweepers