USS Sagacity (MSO-469)

USS Sagacity (AM-469/MSO-469) was an Aggressive-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the task of removing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships.

Sagacity (AM-469) was laid down on 6 October 1952 by the Luders Marine Construction Co., Stamford, Connecticut; launched on 20 February 1954; sponsored by Mrs. Loretta B. McCue; and commissioned on 20 January 1955, Lt. H. M. Berry in command.

Sagacity’s first Med cruise
Redesignated MSO-469 on 7 February, Sagacity completed shakedown training in May, then took up local operations out of her home port, Charleston, South Carolina. Assigned to Mine Division (MinDiv) 84, she conducted her first eastern Atlantic-Mediterranean deployment in the fall of 1956. The four-month deployment was followed by a return to minesweeping exercises in the Caribbean and off the Carolina and Florida coasts.

Assigned various duties
Biennially deployed to the Mediterranean for duty with the U.S. 6th Fleet from that time until 1967, she was employed on projects for the Naval Mine Warfare School at Charleston, the Mine Defense Laboratory at Panama City, Florida, and the Naval Ordnance Test Facility at Fort Lauderdale, Florida, during her U.S. 2d Fleet duty. Occasionally assigned to planeguard duty for helicopters from amphibious assault ships, target towing, and to patrol duties, she was also a unit of the Project Mercury recovery force in January 1962 and participated in the recovery effort of the 1966 Palomares B-52 crash.

Her last 6th Fleet tour of duty
In January 1968, Sagacity steamed east for her last tour with the U.S. 6th Fleet, spending most of her time in the western Mediterranean. She returned to Charleston in June; and, until March 1970, operated off the U.S. East Coast.

Grounding in Charleston harbor
In March 1970, she grounded at the entrance to Charleston harbor, causing extensive damage to her rudders, shafts, screws, keel, and hull.

Inactivation and decommissioning
Five months later, as the Navy continued its force level reduction, Sagacity was ordered inactivated. She was decommissioned and struck from the Navy list on 1 October 1970. In 1971, she was sold for scrapping.