USS Inaugural (AM-242)
Minesweeper of the United States Navy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about USS Inaugural (AM-242)?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
38.611483°N 90.188101°W / 38.611483; -90.188101
USS Inaugural (in dazzle camouflage) during World War II | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Builder | Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Company |
Laid down | 22 May 1944 |
Launched | 1 October 1944 |
Commissioned | 30 December 1944 |
Decommissioned | 9 September 1946 |
Reclassified | MSF-242, 7 February 1955 |
Stricken | 1 March 1967 |
Fate |
|
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Admirable-class minesweeper |
Displacement | 530 tons |
Length | 184 ft 6 in (56.24 m) |
Beam | 33 ft (10 m) |
Draft | 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m) |
Speed | 15 knots (27.8 km/h) |
Complement | 104 |
Armament |
|
Service record | |
Part of: |
|
Operations: | Battle of Okinawa |
Awards: | 2 Battle stars |
USS Inaugural (AM-242) was an Admirable-class fleet minesweeper. The Admirable class was the largest and one of the most successful classes of U.S. minesweepers ordered during World War II. Inaugural was launched on 1 October 1944 and commissioned less than three months later. After seeing combat in the Pacific Theater, she was decommissioned in 1946 and spent two decades in mothballs.
In 1968, she was set up as a museum ship in St. Louis, Missouri. In the Great Flood of 1993, Inaugural was ripped from her mooring, ran aground, and rolled on her side a mile downstream. As of December 2017, the hulk was still sitting on the Missouri side of the river.[1] In the Fall 2021, a historic low level of the Mississippi River allowed the hulk to become visible.[2]