 |
|
|
UER Store
|
|
order your copy of Access All Areas today!
|
|
|
 BUDSKi
 
Location: St Louis
Gender: Male
 |  |  | Hello!
< on 9/6/2007 7:34 PM >
|  | | | Yet another newbie here to these forums, but UE for the last 4-5 years. moved from Dallas to STL last year and getting my feet wet again along with doing photography. Anyways I'm not going to be flooding this thread with my work, but to show off an old US WWII mine sweeper called the USS Inaugural.
and a short history lesson...
The fleet minesweeper USS Inaugural (AM-242) was launched on October 1, 1944, at the Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Corporation of Winslow, Washington, and was commissioned on 30 December 1944, with Lieutenant J. H. Pace in command.
The fleet minesweeper was one of many support ships designed to service and protect larger naval vessels operating in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Typically, the minesweeper detected and removed mines before the rest of the fleet arrived, thereby ensuring safe passage for the larger ships. Their job was essential to the safety and success of U.S. naval operations in the Pacific during World War II. The Inaugural was of the Admirable-class, the largest and one of the most successful classes of U.S. minesweepers ordered during World War II. These minesweepers were also employed as patrol and escort vessels.
Operations
Following shakedown off the California coast, Inaugural sailed on 14 March 1945 for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived 8 days later. For the next 2 months, the minesweeper performed patrol and escort duties between Hawaii and the islands of the western Pacific. She was at Saipan on 22 May and departed that day with a convoy bound for Okinawa, site of the last and largest amphibious operation of the tough Pacific war. After a voyage enlivened by several attacks on suspected submarines, the convoy reached Okinawa on 30 May 1945.
During the desperate struggle for Okinawa, Inaugural patrolled the seas around the island group, often firing at enemy planes as Japanese aircraft made a suicidal effort to stop American ground forces by destroying their support from the sea. Except for the period 19 through 24 July, when the ship put to sea to ride out the great typhoon, Inaugural remained in the dangerous waters around Okinawa until 30 August 1945.
With the war then over, she steamed to the waters around Japan and Korea for vital mine sweeping operations that were a necessary prelude to occupation. She swept the approaches to Jinsen, Korea, in September, and later cleared mines in waters off Nagasaki and Sasebo, Japan. Inaugural proceeded to Okinawa where she received needed equipment 14 - 24 October, and then returned to the important mine sweeping operations around the Japanese home islands.
The veteran minesweeper sailed on 24 December for the United States, via Saipan and Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Pedro, California, on 7 February 1946. Sailing again on 11 March, she proceeded to Galveston, Texas, and decommissioned there on 9 September 1946. Inaugural entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, where she remained until struck from the Navy List on 1 March 1967 and sold. She was reclassified MSF-242 on 7 February 1955.
After being decommissioned, USS Inaugural became a museum at St. Louis.
Inaugural had performed its duties with distinction. By the end of its career, the vessel had cleared 82 mines and was awarded two battle stars for service during World War II.
In 1968, Inaugural was relocated to St. Louis to serve as a floating museum. The vessel was designated as a National Historic Landmark on January 14, 1986, as one of two surviving Admirable-class minesweepers used in the Pacific during World War II.
After the 1993 flood, Inaugural was left on her side in the Mississippi River.
In August 1993, during flooding of the Mississippi River, Inaugural broke loose from its moorings at the Gateway Arch. The ship suffered a breach in its hull, took on water, and rolled on its side. It remained in that position and partially submerged for some time. Plans to salvage the wreck in one piece and restore it were not feasible. The ship was determined a total loss, and was salvaged for scrap metal and museum exhibition purposes.
The Landmark designation of Inaugural was withdrawn on August 7, 2001 because it had ceased to meet the criteria for designation.
-BUDSKi |
|
argonian
  
Location: Toronto, ON
Gender: Female
"Now with added cats!"
| | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 1 on 9/6/2007 7:40 PM >
| | | | Thanks for your post. It was very interesting.
Que pasa, baby? |
|
Trevzilla
Location: St. John's, Newfoundland
Gender: Male
To hell with purple people....unless they're suffocating, Help Them!
| | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 2 on 9/6/2007 11:02 PM >
| | | | Hi, welcome, nice post, I'm a fan of boats!
You're only as young as who you feel! |
|
BUDSKi
Location: St Louis
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 3 on 9/6/2007 11:17 PM >
| | | | thanks, im currently waiting for the water level to drop some more so i can actually get out to it and take my "photographic" images.
-BUDSKi |
|
zmuh11
Location: St. Louis
Gender: Male
| | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 4 on 9/7/2007 12:44 AM >
| | | | I don't think the water will ever really get low enough. If you check out Memory Machine's blog over at underground ozarks you can see pics of the ship during the winter, but that didn't stop him for walking in the frigid water out to it, haha.
This ship is so crazy, it's so visible even with Google Earth, and yet I still haven't seen it! Grrrrrrrrr
|
|
seicer
   
Location: New York
Gender: Male
| |  | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 5 on 9/7/2007 12:55 AM >
| | | | Wow! Thanks for the historical perspective on this, it's always refreshing to read some text behind the photos, especially for an artifact as interesting as this!
Abandoned |
|
BUDSKi
Location: St Louis
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 6 on 9/7/2007 1:08 AM >
| | | | Posted by zmuh11
I don't think the water will ever really get low enough. If you check out Memory Machine's blog over at underground ozarks you can see pics of the ship during the winter, but that didn't stop him for walking in the frigid water out to it, haha.
This ship is so crazy, it's so visible even with Google Earth, and yet I still haven't seen it! Grrrrrrrrr
|
yea i saw his blog about it. I was out there sunday to shoot some B&W film, but the water had risen to where only 6" of the boat was sticking out and the current was crazy!
-BUDSKi |
|
Soldat
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Gender: Male
The Mayor of Noobtown
| | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 7 on 9/7/2007 3:29 AM >
| | | | Very cool. I always like to get the history on things, makes it more interesting and "real" to me. Its a shame it got totalled in the flood, Im suprised they left that deck gun on it, would have thought a museum would like something like that.
|
|
istakebroad
Location: Arkansas
Gender: Male
| |  | | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 8 on 9/7/2007 5:00 AM >
| | | | Thanks for the history lesson and welcome to UER.
War is an intergalactic language. We're all fluent, but some of us speak it natively. |
|
BUDSKi
Location: St Louis
Gender: Male
| | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 9 on 9/7/2007 5:47 AM >
| | | | no problem, I always try to include history or a good story. when you tell a story without giving directions to the spot i feel that it makes people actually read, research and learn, in the long run they will appreciate it more.
-BUDSKi |
|
istakebroad
Location: Arkansas
Gender: Male
| | | | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 10 on 9/7/2007 5:51 AM >
| | | | I agree 100%.
Do the work for them... why not? You took the time out of your day to explore it, so why not go the extra mile?
War is an intergalactic language. We're all fluent, but some of us speak it natively. |
|
Shawn W.
Location: Niagara Falls, NY
Gender: Male
Optimistic Pessimist
| | | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 11 on 9/7/2007 6:46 PM >
| | | | Good post. Welcome to UER. 
What is a rebel? A man who says no. - Albert Camus |
|
KublaKhan
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
With Satan, it's always gimmie, gimmie.
| | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 12 on 10/16/2007 12:19 AM >
| | | | Posted by seicer
Wow! Thanks for the historical perspective on this, it's always refreshing to read some text behind the photos, especially for an artifact as interesting as this!
|
Indeed. Well done.
"The truth is knowable. But probably not, ever, incontrovertible."
--Don DeLillo
PICS |
|
poetictightfist
Location: Warwick RI
| | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 13 on 10/16/2007 9:51 PM >
| | | | great post, good read, good info!
|
|
don cornelius
This member has been banned. See the banlist for more information.
Location: Your asshole.
Proud Parent
| | | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 14 on 10/16/2007 9:58 PM >
| | | | Posted by BUDSKi
no problem, I always try to include history or a good story. when you tell a story without giving directions to the spot i feel that it makes people actually read, research and learn, in the long run they will appreciate it more.
|
Boats are awesome, look forward to more shots when the water level goes down.
History is always really nice to have.
Where is this from? -
History shouldn't be a mystery
Our stories real history
Not his story
40+ year olds with Myspace pages are not cool, they are pediphiles on the prowl. Buyer beware. |
|
Solus
Location: Michigan
Gender: Male
Exigua pars est vitae quam nos uiuimus
| | Re: Hello!
<Reply # 15 on 10/17/2007 5:53 PM >
| | | | Wow, that thing's a work of art. Thanks for the post
...ceterum quidem omne spatium non uita, sed tempus est... |
|
|
|
All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site:
UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service |
View Privacy Policy |
Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 125 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 739661465 pages have been generated.
|
|
