USS ''Rival'' (AM-468/MSO-468) was an 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. ''Rival'' was laid down 1 February 1952 by the Luders Marine Construction Co.,

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

; designated ''AM-468''; launched 15 August 1953; sponsored by Mrs. F. X. Forest; and commissioned 3 September 1954.

East Coast operations

Redesignated ''MSO-468'' in February 1955, ''Rival'' was assigned as

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

, Mine Division 85 during

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, ...

. In March 1955 she began operations out of her homeport of

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 ...

. Based there since that time, she has operated primarily along the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard ...

, rotating biennially, except for 1962, to 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. She participated in Fleet and NATO exercises and, in 1966, in the successful search (20 February to 8 April) for a

nuclear bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

lost off Palomares, Spain in the

Palomares hydrogen bombs incident The 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, also called the Palomares incident, occurred on 17 January 1966, when a Boeing B-52 Stratofortress#Variants, B-52G bomber of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command collided with a Boeing KC-135 Stratot ...

. During her operations with the

U.S. 2d Fleet The United States Second Fleet is a numbered fleet in the United States Navy responsible for the East Coast and North Atlantic Ocean. The Fleet was established following World War II. In September 2011, Second Fleet was deactivated in view of ...

, she has conducted exercises in the Charleston area and off Puerto Rico and has provided services at Yorktown, Virginia, and at

Mayport, Florida Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, which crosses the St. Johns ...

, and Panama City, Florida. In 1961, she added

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

deployments to her schedule and continued them through the decade.

Last Mediterranean cruise of the 1960s

In December 1968, ''Rival'' returned from her last Mediterranean cruise of the 1960s. Through 1969 she remained in the western Atlantic Ocean and in the

. In 1970, she prepared for modernization. She arrived at the

Todd Shipyard Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United S ...

, Brooklyn, New York, on 10 June to begin the work, however the contract was terminated 16 October 1970 for the convenience of the government. ''Rival'', along with three other ships of her class, was towed to

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the cit ...

for storage pending final disposition.

Decommissioning

''Rival'' was decommissioned 15 May 1970 and struck from the Navy list on 1 February 1971. In August 1971, ''Rival'', and her three sisters, were sold to Mr. Charles Gural of Rahway, New Jersey, with the Navy receiving $2,700 for ''Rival''.

References

External links

USS Rival

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rival Agile-class minesweepers Ships built in Stamford, Connecticut 1953 ships Vietnam War mine warfare vessels of the United States