USS ''Enhance'' (AM-437/MSO-437) was an ''Aggressive''-class

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

for the task of removing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships. ''Enhance'' was launched 11 October 1952 by Martinolich Shipbuilding Co.,

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; sponsored by Mrs. A. C. Martinolich; reclassified ''MSO-437'', 7 February 1955; and commissioned 16 April 1955.

West Coast operations

From her home port,

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, ''Enhance'' operated along the

U.S. West Coast The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S. states of Cali ...

on training and exercises in mine warfare. She sailed from Long Beach 1 October 1956 for her first tour of duty with the U.S. 7th Fleet in the

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. During that fall's crisis over the

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, ''Enhance'' patrolled in the

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, recording the movement of shipping, as part of the intensified alertness required of the Navy during periods of international tension anywhere in the world. She returned to Long Beach 12 April 1957 and resumed her west coast operations. During her second Far Eastern deployment, from 2 April 1959 to 16 October, ''Enhance'' joined in exercises with minecraft of the navies of the

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and the

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. Returning to west coast operations, on 8 January 1960 she rescued four men from an overturned sailboat off Long Beach. In June 1960 she visited

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. ''Enhance'' spent the remainder of the year conducting type training and undergoing overhaul at San Diego. Left Long Beach, California in 1971 after an overhaul for operations in Vietnam in December 1972. Swept mine fields of Vietnam to clear Harbors. On 17 March 1973, during Operation End Sweep, ''Enhance'' had an engine room fire which seriously damaged the ship. ''Enhance'' was towed to Subic bay. Repair cost was $294,000. ''Enhance'' was also disabled by an engine room fire on 5 January 1975 off San Diego. ''Enhance'' was decommissioned in 1991 and struck from the

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in 1992. She was sold for scrapping in 2000.

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Enhance Aggressive-class minesweepers Ships built in San Diego 1952 ships