USS ''Engage'' (MSO-433), an , was the second ship of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

to be named ''Engage''. The second ''Engage'' (AM-433/MSO-433) was launched 18 June 1953 by

Colberg Boat Works Colberg Boat Works was a shipbuilding company in Stockton, California on the Stockton Channel. The original WWII office building burned to the ground in 2022. It was being prepared for moving to Brandon Island.To support the World War II demand f ...

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

; sponsored by Mrs. R. B. Richmond; and commissioned 29 June 1954. She was reclassified MSO-433, 7 February 1955. Originally intended to be USS ''Elusive'' it was changed to ''Engage'' to avoid potential phonetic conflict with USS ''Illusive'' (MSO-448). From her home port at Long Beach, where she first arrived 21 July 1954, ''Engage'' operated in mine warfare and general training along the west coast, preparing for her deployments to the Far East in 1955–56, 1958, and 1960. During these, she trained with minecraft of the navies of the Republics of China and the Philippines, and the Royal Thailand navy, since an important duty for minecraft serving in the Far East is to improve the readiness of friendly navies to operate in mutual defense. ''Engage'' participated in

Operation Market Time Operation Market Time was the United States Navy, Republic of Vietnam Navy and Royal Australian Navy operation begun in 1965 to stop the flow of troops, war material, and supplies by sea, coast, and rivers, from North Vietnam into parts of Sout ...

(11 March 1965 to December 1972) which was created by joining the US Navy and the South Vietnamese Navy in an effort to stop the flow of supplies from North Vietnam into the south by sea. According to Navy reports, Operation Market Time was very successful, but received little credit. Eventually all the supply routes at sea became non-existent, which forced the North Vietnamese to use the

Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

. ''Engage'' also participated in Operation End Sweep which began in January 1973. The last provision of the Vietnam war cease-fire agreement that directly related to the Navy entailed removal of the U.S. sea mines laid along the North Vietnamese coast and the

Mark 36 Destructors Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

dropped into inland waterways. On 28 January, following months of extensive preparation and training, the Seventh Fleet's Mine Countermeasures Force (Task Force 78), led by

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Brian McCauley, sailed from

Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...

and shaped course for a staging area off Haiphong. On 6 February, one day after Commander Task Force 78 met in the city to coordinate actions with his North Vietnamese opposite,

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Hoang Huu Thai, Operation End Sweep got underway. A total of 10 ocean minesweepers, 9 amphibious ships, 6 fleet tugs, 3 salvage ships, and 19

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

types served with Task Force 78 during the six months of Operation End Sweep. ''Engage'' was decommissioned 30 December 1991 in

Mayport, Florida Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities on San Pablo Island. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, wh ...

. After decommissioning, ''Engage'' (ex-MSO-433) remained in the Philadelphia inactive ships facility until delivered to Baltimore Marine. She was scrapped 17 May 2002.

References

* *

External links

*
Navy MSO Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Engage (MSO-433) Agile-class minesweepers Ships built in Stockton, California 1953 ships