USS Fortify (AM-446)
_underway_in_1981.jpeg) USS Fortify underway in the Atlantic Ocean on 6 July 1981
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Fortify |
| Builder | Seattle, Washington |
| Laid down | 30 November 1951 |
| Launched | 14 February 1953 |
| Commissioned | 16 July 1954 |
| Decommissioned | 31 August 1992 |
| Reclassified | MSO-446 on 7 February 1955 |
| Stricken | 9 March 1994 |
| Homeport | Little Creek, Virginia |
| Fate | Sold for scrapping in 2000 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Agile-class minesweeper |
| Displacement | 620 tons |
| Length | 172 ft (52.43 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft (10.97 m) |
| Draught | 10 ft (3.05 m) |
| Propulsion | Originally fitted with Packards. Replaced by four propellers, 2,400 Shaft Horsepower(total)[citation needed ] |
| Speed | 16 knots |
| Complement | 74 |
| Sensors and processing systems | 1 AN/SQQ-14 Variable depth sonar[citation needed] |
| Armament | one 40 mm mount, later replaced by two 50 cal mounts on the pilot house level, one on each wing[citation needed ] |
| Notes | Acoustic devices included one 6-Baker and one 4-Victor. EMS-4 Degaussing System. While homeported at Little Creek, VA, was part of Mine Squadron 12 (COMINERON 12 was located in Charleston, SC).[citation needed] |
USS Fortify (AM-446/MSO-446) was an
Fortify was launched 14 February 1953 by
West Coast operations
Fortify first arrived at
During her first tour of duty in the
USS Fortify was deployed off the coast of
USS Fortify participated in Operation Market Time Patrol (coastal surveillance force) from 1968 through the end of the war. During patrol Fortify was responsible for boarding and searching South Vietnamese fishing junks for smuggled weapons and other contraband intended to aid the Viet Cong. In July 1971 Fortify embarked on a WestPac deployment for coastal patrol in the coastal waters of South Vietnam and returned to her new home port at the Naval Base Guam upon completion of her tour. After the mining of Haiphong Harbor in North Vietnam by the United States, Fortify was placed on alert and was sent underway from Guam to operate in the coastal waters of South Vietnam off of the coast of Da Nang as a precautionary countermeasure.
The minesweeper was assigned to participate in Operation End sweep after the war (removing mines laid by United States in Haiphong Harbor in North Vietnam and other water ways). Operation End sweep was one of the final military operations to end the war in Vietnam. The crew of USS Fortify crew earned the Meritorious Unit Commendation for their service.
Fortify was
References
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships - Fortify
- NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Vessel Photo Archive - Fortify (MSO-446) - ex-AM-446
- NVR - MSO-446
