USS Exploit (AM-440)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Exploit.

History
United States
Name	Exploit
Builder	Higgins Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana
Laid down	28 December 1951
Launched	10 April 1953
Commissioned	31 March 1954
Decommissioned	16 December 1993
Reclassified	MSO-440 7 February 1955
Stricken	28 March 1994
Identification	AM-440
Fate	Sold, 4 December 2000
General characteristics
Class & type	Aggressive-class minesweeper
Displacement	775 tons
Length	172 ft (52.43 m)
Beam	36 ft (10.97 m)
Draft	10 ft (3.05 m)
Propulsion	4 × Packard ID1700 diesel engines, replaced by 4 Waukasha Motors Co. diesels, two shafts, two controllable pitch propellers.
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	70
Armament	1 × 40 mm gun 2 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) mg

USS Exploit (MSO-440) was an Aggressive-class minesweeper. The ship was laid down on 28 December 1951 at Higgins Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana and launched on 10 April 1953. The vessel was commissioned USS Exploit (AM-440) on 31 March 1954 and redesignated as an ocean minesweeper MSO-440 on 7 February 1955.

As built the vessel was armed one single 40 mm gun mount on the bow and two .50 caliber machine guns. The ship's final weapons configuration replaced the bow gun with one twin 20 mm gun mount while maintaining the two .50 caliber machine guns.

Service history

USS Exploit arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, her home port on 13 March 1955, and began her participation in major fleet exercises, and local and Caribbean Sea training. In 1954, 1957, and 1958, she served with the U.S. 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, participating in exercises and visiting a variety of ports. Her stateside schedule through June 1960 included work in experimental development of mine warfare and defense in Florida waters. On 28 October 1960 USS Exploit again sailed for duty with the U.S. 6th Fleet and remained there through the end of the year.

Exploit was decommissioned on 16 December 1993 and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Portsmouth, Virginia. The ship was struck from the Naval Register on 28 March 1994 and sold on 4 December 2000 to Baltimore Marine Industries, Baltimore, Maryland, for scrapping.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
•  This article incorporates public domain material from Exploit (MSO-440) at the Naval Vessel Register.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Exploit (AM-440) at NavSource Naval History