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History | |
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Name | USS Tercel |
Laid down | 16 May 1944 |
Launched | 16 December 1944 |
Commissioned | 21 August 1945 |
Decommissioned | 10 November 1954 |
Reclassified | MSF-386, 7 February 1955 |
Stricken | 1 July 1972 |
Fate |
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General characteristics | |
Class and type | Auk-class minesweeper |
Displacement | 890 long tons (904 t) |
Length | 221 ft 3 in (67.44 m) |
Beam | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
Draft | 10 ft 9 in (3.28 m) |
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Complement | 100 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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USS Tercel (AM-386) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
Tercel was named after the "tercel", the male of various hawks, especially of the peregrine falcon and the goshawk.
Tercel was laid down on 16 May 1944 by the American Ship Building Company, Lorain, Ohio; launched on 16 December 1944; sponsored by Mrs. J. H. Thompson; and commissioned on 21 August 1945.
Following trials in Lake Erie, Tercel headed for the Atlantic via the Great Lakes waterway and the St. Lawrence River. She arrived at Boston on 7 September and was outfitted. Sailing on 2 November, Tercel reached Little Creek, Virginia, the next day for her shakedown cruise.
Tercel was assigned to Mine Forces, Atlantic Fleet, on 1 January 1946, when that organization was activated. She stood out of Norfolk, Virginia, a week later and conducted exercises in the Chesapeake Bay until 21 March. In April, she was assigned to the Mine Warfare School at Yorktown, Virginia, and supported that establishment until 2 July 1946. The minesweeper conducted local operations and participated in exercises along the eastern seaboard from the Caribbean to New London, Connecticut.
On 20 July 1951 when she arrived at Charleston, South Carolina. Tercel stood out of Charleston in early September 1951 for her first deployment to the Mediterranean. While there, she called at Gibraltar and ports in Italy, France, Malta, and Greece. Upon her return to Charleston on 6 February 1952, she resumed her normal U.S. East Coast routine.
Operation Dew I was a Chemical, Biological, Radio-logical (CBR) warfare experiment. Dew I consisted of five separate trials from 26 March 1952 until 21 April 1952 that were designed to test the feasibility of maintaining a large aerosol cloud released offshore until it drifted over land, achieving a large area coverage (LAC). [1]
The tests released zinc cadmium sulfide along a 100-to-150-nautical-mile (190 to 280 km) line approximately 5 to 10 nautical miles (10 to 20 km) off the coast of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. [1] Two of the trials dispersed clouds of zinc cadmium sulfide over large areas of all three U.S. states. The tests affected over 60,000 square miles (150,000 km2) of populated coastal region in the U.S. southeast. [2] The Dew I releases were from a Navy minesweeper, the USS Tercel. [1]
Tercel was again deployed to the Mediterranean from 21 April to 26 October 1953. Then, after approximately eight months of operations in home waters, the minesweeper was transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet for a preinactivation overhaul.
The ship was placed out of commission, in reserve, at Orange, Texas, on 10 November 1954. On 7 February 1955, she was redesignated MSF-386 and reclassified a steel-hulled fleet minesweeper. Tercel was struck from the Navy Directory on 1 July 1972.
The Naval Vessel Register lists Tercel as "Disposed of, type of disposal not known" and has a note saying: "Presumed scrapped date unknown", this is incorrect, she was not scrapped. Tercel was used as a Salvage Training Hulk from 1972 to 1988. She was sunk as a target on 6 April 1988, being towed to the target area by the USS Grapple (ARS-53). [3]
USS Pigeon (AM-374) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Tanager (AM-385) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Wheatear (AM-390) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Vital (AM-474/MSO-474) was an Agile-class minesweeper in service with the United States Navy from 1955 to 1972. She was sold for scrap in 1979.
USS Staff (AM-114) was an Auk-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Bold (MSO-424) was an Agile-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the task of clearing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships.
USS Redwing (AMS/MSC-200) was a Bluebird-class minesweeper in the United States Navy.
USS Valor (AM-472/MSO-472) was an Agile-class minesweeper in service with the United States Navy from 1954 to 1970. She was sold for scrap in 1971.
USS Bluebird (AMS/MSC-121) was a Bluebird-class minesweeper acquired by the US Navy for clearing minefields in coastal waterways.
USS Agile (MSO-421) was an Agile-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.
USS Avenge (MSO-423) was an Agile-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the task of clearing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships.
USS Dominant (MSO-431) was an Agile-class minesweeper built for the United States Navy.
USS Nimble (AM-459/MSO-459) was an Agile-class minesweeper in service with the United States Navy from 1955 to 1970. She was sold for scrap in 1981.
USS Notable (AM-460/MSO-460) was an Aggressive-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.
USS Rival (AM-468/MSO-468) 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.
USS Stalwart (AM-493/MSO-493) was an Aggressive-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.
USS Sturdy (AM-494/MSO-494) was an Aggressive-class minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for the task of removing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships.
USS Venture (AM-496/MSO-496) was an Aggressive-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.
USS Assurance (AM-521/MSO-521) was an Ability-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.
Operation Dew refers to two separate field trials conducted by the United States in the 1950s. The tests were designed to study the behavior of aerosol-released biological agents.
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