USS ''Sagacity'' (AM-469/MSO-469) was an ''Agile''-class minesweeper 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. ''Sagacity'' (''AM-469'') was laid down on 6 October 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 ...

; launched on 20 February 1954; sponsored by Mrs. Loretta B. McCue; and commissioned on 20 January 1955.

''Sagacity’s'' first Med cruise

Redesignated ''MSO-469'' on 7 February, ''Sagacity'' completed

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, ...

training in May, then took up local operations out of 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 ...

. Assigned to Mine Division (MinDiv) 84, she conducted her first eastern Atlantic-

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

deployment in the fall of 1956. The four-month deployment was followed by a return to minesweeping exercises in the

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 ...

and off the Carolina and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

coasts.

Assigned various duties

Biennially deployed to the

for duty 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 ...

from that time until 1967, she was employed on projects for the Naval Mine Warfare School at Charleston, the Mine Defense Laboratory at Panama City, Florida, and the Naval Ordnance Test Facility at

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, during her

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 ...

duty. Occasionally assigned to planeguard duty for helicopters from amphibious assault ships, target towing, and to patrol duties, she was also a unit of the Project Mercury recovery force in January 1962 and participated in the recovery effort of the

1966 Palomares B-52 crash The 1966 Palomares B-52 crash, also called the Palomares incident, occurred on 17 January 1966, when a B-52G bomber of the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command collided with a KC-135 tanker during mid-air refueling at over the Me ...

.Melson, June 1967, p.31

Her last 6th Fleet tour of duty

In January 1968, ''Sagacity'' steamed east for her last tour with the

, spending most of her time in the western Mediterranean. She returned to Charleston in June; and, until March 1970, operated off 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 ...

Grounding in Charleston harbor

In March 1970, she grounded at the entrance to Charleston harbor, causing extensive damage to her rudders, shafts, screws, keel, and hull.

Inactivation and decommissioning

Five months later, as the Navy continued its force level reduction, ''Sagacity'' was ordered inactivated. She was decommissioned and struck from the

Navy list 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 1 October 1970. In 1971, she was sold for scrapping.

Notes

References

External links

USS Sagacity

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sagacity Agile-class minesweepers Ships built in Stamford, Connecticut 1954 ships Vietnam War mine warfare vessels of the United States