USS ''Conquest'' (MSO-488) was an in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. ''Conquest'' was laid down by the J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp. of

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

on 26 March 1953 as AM-488, launched on 20 March 1954 by Mrs. C. D. Henderson. She was reclassified MSO-488 on 7 February 1955, and commissioned on 8 July 1955.

Service history

One of a new type of non-magnetic minesweepers, ''Conquest'' remained operating out of

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

on trials and training until 2 October 1956. She sailed to Acapulco, Mexico, for a good will visit from 10 to 14 October, then returned to Long Beach to prepare for her first tour of duty in the Far East. Sailing 4 March 1957, ''Conquest'' visited

Chinhae Jinhae-gu ( Hangul: 진해구, Hanja: 鎭海區) is a district in Changwon City, South Korea. This region is served by the Korean National Railroad, and is famous for its annual cherry blossom festival every spring. The city front is on a shel ...

, South Korea, and Kaohsiung,

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

for operations with the

Republic of China Navy The Republic of China Navy (ROCN; ), also called the ROC Navy and colloquially the Taiwan Navy, is the maritime branch of the Republic of China Armed Forces (ROCAF). The service was formerly commonly just called the Chinese Navy during World W ...

;

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, and various ports in Japan before returning to Long Beach on 13 September 1957 for overhaul. During 1958 she operated locally out of Long Beach and conducted a series of minesweeping exercises at

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esq ...

Nootka Sound , image = Morning on Nootka Sound.jpg , image_size = 250px , alt = , caption = Clouds over Nootka Sound , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = Map of Nootka So ...

, and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, British Columbia, from 6 October to 19 November. Between 17 August 1959 and 13 March 1960, she again served in the Far East, returning to local operations through June 1960. ''Conquest'' was decommissioned on 29 June 1994, stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

on 29 June 1994 and sold on 1 March 1995. ''Conquest'' was sold to Taiwan to be designated ''Yung Tzu'' (MSO-1307) for $742,779 Call sign: "November - Tango - Alpha - Whiskey" File:ROCS Yung Tzu (MSO-1307).jpg, Decommissioning ceremony of ''Yung Tzu'' on 1 September 2020

Awards

''Conquest'' received 26 unit awards and citations: *

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who, after ...

s for Quemoy-Matsu, Vietnam and Persian Gulf (8) *

Combat Action Ribbon The Combat Action Ribbon (CAR, ), is a high precedence United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States Marine Corps military decoration awarded to United States sea service members "who have actively participated in ground or su ...

s (2) *

Navy E Ribbon The Navy "E" Ribbon or Battle Efficiency Ribbon (informally the Battle "E" ribbon) was authorized on March 31, 1976, by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf as a unit award for battle efficiency competition. The service ribbon replaced the ...

s (3) *

Navy Unit Commendation The Navy Unit Commendation (NUC) is a United States Navy unit award that was established by order of the Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal on 18 December 1944. History Navy and U.S. Marine Corps commands may recommend any Navy or Marine Cor ...

(1) * Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation Gallantry (3) * Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation 1982 (1) * Vietnam Service Medals (8)

References

* *

External links

*
USS Conquest (AM-488/MSO-488)
Ships built in Tacoma, Washington 1954 ships Cold War minesweepers of the United States Vietnam War minesweepers of the United States Yung Yang-class minesweepers Minesweepers of the Republic of China Mine warfare vessel classes {{US-mil-ship-stub