USS Lucid (MSO-458) Tour - December 10, 2016

[@sierraosprey3409]

Served as a Radarman in CIC on the USS Prime (MSO-466) 64' - 66'. The tour brought back many memories. Thanks.

[@toddneil8139]

Outstanding work. I'm glad a wooden minesweeper museum will be available to tour. I was afraid they got rid of them all. I was on the USS Affray MSO-511 as an RM2/TTY from 1969 to 1973. Brought back a ton of memories. Thanks

[@thatguyinelnorte]

Was on USS Excel as a NJROTC cadet. Thanks for the memories!!

[@integrityvida]

I was on the USS IMPLICIT MSO-455 from 1985 until 89 behind the reserve center in Tacoma WA!

[@sporty1701]

Interesting video...I served on both the USS Dash (MSO 428) and USS Adroit (MSO 509). The Dash was powered by two EMD locomotive diesels. They NEVER broke down...just got repainted every so often. The Adroit was powered by four V12 Packard marine diesels...they ran every so often and NEVER got painted. Being an EN on a Packard boat kept you very busy, but as I look back, I wouldn't change a thing. Spent two weeks at "Reftra" in Norfolk back in the early 70's. After multiple "full power runs" (14 knots, wide open), spent the next month repairing all the blown head gaskets and injector seals. Ah, the memories.

[@cmsracing]

I was on the Adroit when the Packard's where replaced with Wakashaw's, and they always blew the o ring seals on the bottoms of the wet liner cylinders. Not too long after that we decomishioned it, best time I ever had on board was ripping the aft engine room apart. All the way to the bare bulkheads, engines compressors fuel system ever thing!

[@dirtyrottenhikers4972]

So interesting. I served on 3 Minesweepers; MSOs USS Imperious, USS Illusive and USS Engage and rarely saw the officer's quarters, CIC or the radio room. I was an EM3. Mostly saw engine rooms. It's cool to go back after all the years. Thank you.

[@txg8878]

Great video. Served on MSO-446 (Fortify), MSO-509(Adroit - during Storm/Shield), and MSO-440 (Exploit).

[@stinker43]

Dave, I am really impressed with the progress since I was last aboard 6/16. I need to get out more often now that I am healthy and retiring!

[@John-is1ri]

Great job!! After engine room tour brought back a lot of memories. Served on the Prime 466 and the Pledge 492.

[@altimer]

Same here, I was on the Fearless 442. Our ship had the Waukesha V12 twin turbos.

[@tracyhecht5553]

This is absolutely amazing. I was on the USS Pledge myself but I can not wait to come visit the museum.

[@nickandmikec]

Served aboard USS Dynamic (MSO-432) from1968 to 1970.

[@johnbergholt8959]

Diesel engines. One thing most folks forget is that MSOs had diesel engines. They also had exhaust. When the relative wind was in the wrong direction, those of us on the bridge sucked diesel fumes. It wasn't rocket science. If you were heading six knots in one direction, and the wind was blowing six knots in the opposite direction, the diesel fumes would knock you over. To this day, whenever I get behind an 18-wheeler and smell the diesel, I think of the USS Direct.

[@76notam]

fantastic !:) i was a sailor in French Navy in 84/85 on the bridge in MSO based in Brest ,France her name "Berneval " M 613...a fantastic and nice ship made in wood :) her was excellent in all sort of weather ....yes a lot of good souvenirs on board...and congratulation for your job on board for "re- built" this ship !:)

[@charliepearson1678]

Served as a En Fn on board MSO/AG 521 USS Assurance . very similar design to Lucid out of Charleston S C . Great job guys . wish i was in the area to lend a hand .

[@rokodera]

MSO-455 USS Implicit at Lake Union/Seattle, WA and Tacoma, WA

[@jbarry8433]

wow! Stumbled upon this. Brought back alot of memories of the USS ENHANCE MSO 437, I was a QM3 from 1973-1975 in San Diego.

[@Scott-yr2wq]

From a MSO-448 Illusive sailor, very nice! If you want to save $16,000.00 on a 40MM, we had ours removed in I believe 72, so it is not something you need. Please keep up the good work. The video was well done. Scott SK3

[@johnbergholt8959]

Scott Stone, the forward guns were removed long before I came aboard the Direct (in 1970). In place of the guns, we had the sonar. The SQS-14, aka Mr. Squeeky. Mr. Squeeky was like an underwater television set that could "see" stuff. It was weird. We'd pull into a port in the Med and crank up the sonar. We'd find all sorts of shit. Refrigerators, TV sets. you name it, we saw it.I doubt the "Squeeky 14 " is in service these days, but it was fun while it lasted.

[@nickandmikec]

Served aboard USS Dynamic (MSO-432) from1968 to 1970.

[@waynehurley1219]

Outstanding i had the honor serving aboard the USS Exploit and then transfered to USS Adroit during desert storm as Command Masterchief we scored 50 mines in 30 days

[@alhines1828]

just can not believe the progress! former MSO sailor

[@josephmoylan9199]

Awesome work

[@AENeuman26]

BZ, outstanding job! GD MSO-425

[@railroad9000]

You have made tremendous progress since I visited Lucid a few years ago. Sure brings back memories of my time on the ACME MSO 508. Bravo Zulu!

[@LeaderMSO490]

Served as Communications/Operations Officer on LEADER MSO-490, 1969 until decommissioned DEC 1970. Configurations was somewhat different in that LEADER was designated Squadron Flagship with full Commander (O-5) often embarked for SoCal OPS in Catalina and Santa Barbara channels . Extra personnel, so extra berths and staterooms--CO's stateroom was half-size as Commodore had identical layout adjacent in the same space provided on LUCID. If you wanted to learn navigation and piloting (pre-GPS) no better duty than on a minesweeper but not much sleep. Working hours were long when towing the gear astern at 5 kts.--1 shift until the "sweep" was done--often 24+ hours. 5 officers (CO and XO didn't stand watch) and 45-50 enlisted personnel. Extra food allowance enabled top-shelf meals; but really close/tight quarters --no free space--often created tension among the crew. Bridge watches were under the canvas cover above the conning station/helm 1 deck below. Really cold and wet all contributed to the standard phrase: "Iron men in wooden ships"

[@NickGonsalves]

I was on her in the late 80s, as well as being on the USS Fearless MSo 442 (Gold Crew) in the Persian gulf

[@cmsracing]

From a retired EN-1 from four MSO's I am disappointed in how much of the engineering equipment is missing . Being LPO of A Gang, I am very famlure with all the aspects of the "lower decks".

[@WhoisJohn1773]

Wow. Excellent. Brings back memories. USS Vital (MSO-474) 69-71, Ships office was first compartment on port side of the port passageway coming in from the fantail. Next was the Corpsman. Everything else is exactly the same. Slept in the forward compartment. Hot as hell until we comshawed a 3 ton Chrysler air-temp air conditioner from Charleston Naval base. Traded coffee for it. We had a coffee allowance & shore personnel didn't . Next pass over the degaussing range, they were like WTF did you do to that ship! LOL Iron men in wooden ships.

[@djdigital3806]

USS IMPERVIOUS (MSO-433) USS ENGAGE (MSO-449) (88-91). SK3 Storekeeper

[@djdigital3806]

My office was under the fan tail😱

[@williamschmierer1801]

Served on the uss fortify miso 446 from mid 1971 to late 1972

[@MrJeep75]

Awesome

[@dunzjost]

i remember being seasick on board the ex M886 in 1984 , As A856 sailing here for the dutch navy as Hr Ms Mercuur,

[@johnbergholt8959]

Back in the day, mines were of three varieties: Contact, magnetic, and acoustic. Theoretically, MSOs could sweep all three types. In reality, don't go there. Your contact mine was moored to the ocean floor. The MSO would come along, sever the mooring line, then shoot it . The Magnetic mine was more complicated. The MSO would trail behind it a "tail" emitting magnetic pulses. The magnetic mine would then explode. The Acoustic mine was even trickier. It would "listen" for a ship's sound, then blow up. So, we had this device we trailed which (presumably) belched out sounds like a warship or freighter. It was all very surreal.

[@djdigital3806]

USS IMPERVIOUS (MSO-449) and USS ENGAGE (MSO-433). Mayport Naval Air Station 1988-1991 SK3 Storekeeper

[@chasacart]

Did they require you to go to a minesweeping warfare training school similar to an A-School-as a prerequisite to serving aboard a mso (minesweeper),..also- was the "hazardous bonus pay" alot??..

[@djdigital3806]

@@chasacart About 260 a month for hazard duty.

[@stickelliott5292]

Wow, just happened on this. Served on the Vital 474. This is fairly close to my ship. 8:14 is ship's office where I spent 29 months. Had a window air conditioner that vented into the Officers' passageway. LOL

[@glocke380]

You know what, when you started this project I was doubtful, but you guys are doing a great job! If I wasn't so poor right now I would send a pile of money. Where did you get the second engine from?

[@johnbergholt8959]

The MineDiv in formation. OK, your basic MineDiv was four vessels. When operating, the trick was to have no "holiday". You wanted to have each space on the ocean covered, i.e., no holiday. While up to the Commodore, the normal formation was starboard to port, or port to starboard, one, two, three, four. You could do a diamond formation, but the turns (the corpens) got really tricky).

[@johnbergholt8959]

When a MineDiv swept in formation, everybody earned his pay. The concept was easy, the reality more difficult. The Commodore had the roughest job. He had to decide the division formation. Anybody who has had the bridge (i.e., OOD) and heard "corpen left" when in a diamond, well, it's tough to do.

[@johnbergholt8959]

Minesweepers were weird. For Junior Officers just out of OCS, deployment was key. West Coast, Vietnam, Market-Time, 50/50 chance you wind up in a body bag. East Coast, Charleston, Med Cruise, happy times. When I was at OCS in late 1969, I always checked the (classified) deployment schedules. East Coast (i.e., Charleston-based) MSOs never deployed to the Nam. West Coast- based MSOs, did. It was a no-brainer.Operation Market-Time was brutal. During the Vietnam War, MSOs would be charged with "junk patrol", i.e., stopping and searching junks for weapons The Officer in charge of the junk search would be the junior Ensign. Bang, pow, one less Ensign.The only thing more hazardous, Swift Boats. Swift boats generally patrolled in a column of four. The Ensign in the boat at the point, the Chief in the boat at the rear. The enemy, once they figured it out, picked off the point, then the rear. Survival rates for Ensigns and Chiefs on swift boats were, shall we say, problematic.

[@mervschetter3244]

I served on USS Gallant MSO 489 from 1962- 1965 with one West pac. cruse. electrician third class.

[@marthabecker8734]

i noticed they rebuilt some of the stairs on the deck out of wood and aren't as steep as the real ones on the after deck

[@johnbergholt8959]

Then again, if a Junior Officer wanted to advance, Vietnam was the only option. Old hands used to joke "it's not much, but it's the only war we have". I found that a bad joke.The CO of the Dash (MSO 428) climbed the ladder quite rapidly in Vietnam. As a swift boat Ensign (one of those who survived), he made LTJG in 12 months, LT in another 12 months, and LCDR in another 6 months. I mean, 2 1/2 years out of Annapolis, he's a LCDR. Our CO was a bit jealous, but it was the "Navy Way." At the end of our Med cruise, the Dash's CO was promoted to CDR. So, three years and a wake-up, he's O-5. I doubt such would occur today.

[@johnbergholt8959]

Tattoos. One thing never ceased to amaze. This thing some folks had with tattoos. Guys would go ashore, get plastered, and come back aboard with the weirdest tattoos. Most were fairly lame, but some were downright silly. I mean, seriously, do you really want to have "MineDiv 43, laid in the shade" on your upper forearm for life? Explain the nuances to your wife. And grandchildren.

[@johnbergholt8959]

Were midrats the best meal of the day on a Minesweeper? You betcha. The mess gang would gather up all the leftovers, plop them in whatever, and make a fancy mix of who knows what. Right around 2315, just before the midwatch assembled for duty, midrats would be set out in the galley. The video shows the galley a few minutes in.

[@joemarino6944]

USS PIVOT MSO 463 ETR2 1966/1969

[@johnbergholt8959]

Some minor quibbles. USS Direct (MSO 430) 1970 - 1972. The aft JO's compartment had three racks, not two, and no built-in "bunks". Luxurious, it was not. The active duty officer complement was: Ops (me), Chief Engineer, Supply, First Lieutenant, XO, CO. The Ops, Supply and Chief Engineer berthed in the aft compartment. The First Lieutenant and XO, in the forward compartment. The overhead was the weather deck, and invariably leaked like a sieve. The most junior of the junior officers got the privilege of the top rack. It was like the movie, "Sleeping in the Rain". The senior watch officer (usually the First Lieutenant) and the XO berthed in the forward compartment. It seldom leaked. Hmmm, wonder why?

[@johnbergholt8959]

Moving right along, there's the joy of a salt water shower. On your average MSO, the donkey boiler could crank out only so much fresh water. If the boiler produced insufficient fresh water for showers (not uncommon), we took salt water showers. There is nothing stickier than a salt water shower.

[@panamacitycountryclu]

USS Fidelity MSO -443

[@johnbergholt8959]

Ah, the crypto room. My cave. One cannot recreate without a KLB-47 (inside joke).

[@johnbergholt8959]

Every minesweeper (MSO) had a crypto room, with a KLB-47. The KLB-47 was basically the enigma machine, invented in WW II. My most serious duty, believe it or not, was punching keys on the KLB-47. I think one can buy KLB-47s these days. The New York Times was advertising them for a few thousand bucks. So, you too, if you care, can send encrypted messages with your own, personal, KLB-47.

[@johnbergholt8959]

The crypto room had one of those weird tumbler locks. Only two Junior Officers knew the combination. Presumably, the XO and the CO did as well but they kept it a secret.