| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Meadowlark |
| Builder: | Broward Marine Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
| Laid down: | 18 May 1953 |
| Launched: | 28 August 1954 |
| Commissioned: | 14 May 1955 |
| Decommissioned: | date unknown |
| Reclassified: | MSC-196, 7 February 1955 |
| Struck: | 1 May 1976 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Indonesia, 1971. Sold, 1 September 1976. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Falcon-class minesweeper |
| Displacement: | 362 long tons (368 t) |
| Length: | 144 ft 3 in (43.97 m) |
| Beam: | 27 ft 2 in (8.28 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 600 shp (447 kW) Packard diesel engines, 2 shafts |
| Speed: | 13.6 knots (25.2 km/h; 15.7 mph) |
| Complement: | 39 |
| Armament: | • 2 × .50 cal. machine guns • 1 × 81 mm mortar |
USS Meadowlark (AMS-196) was a Falcon-class coastal minesweeper acquired by the United States Navy for clearing coastal minefields.
Meadowlark was laid down on 18 May 1953 by Broward Marine Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and launched on 28 August 1954, sponsored by Mrs. Thomas E. Sheridan. Reclassified as Coastal Minesweeper MSC-196 on 7 February 1955, and commissioned on 10 May 1955, Lt. J. P. Cromwell in command.
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Meadowlark conducted shakedown training out of Charleston, South Carolina. This remained her home port into 1969, except for a period commencing February 1956 when assigned to the Naval Mine Warfare School, Yorktown, Virginia. She conducted operations from Nova Scotia to the Panama Canal Zone, and in January 1967 visited Curaçao, Netherlands West Indies. With Mine Squadron 42 she twice participated in joint exercises with the Canadian Navy the first time off Nova Scotia in July 1958 and again in June 1963 along the Florida coast.
An eager competitor in fleet exercises and battle problems, MSC-196 was recognized for her operational readiness. From 1962 she won five consecutive Battle Efficiency "E" awards and accumulated an equal number of awards for excellence in mine counter measures.
Meadowlark was transferred to Indonesia in 1971 as Pulau Alau (M 717); struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1976; and, sold, 1 September 1976. Fate: unknown.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.