USS Thrush (MSC-204)

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

USS Thrush (MSC-204) was a Bluebird-class minesweeper in the service of the United States Navy from 1955 to 1975.

USS Thrush (MSC-204), steaming out of Key West, Florida
History
United States
Name	Thrush
Namesake	Thrush
Builder	Tampa Marine Company, Tampa, Florida
Laid down	7 May 1954
Launched	5 January 1955
Commissioned	8 November 1955
Decommissioned	1 July 1975
Reclassified	Coastal Minesweeper, 7 February 1955
Stricken	1 August 1977
Homeport	1956: Yorktown, Virginia 1957: Key West, Florida 1959: Coco Solo, Panama 1962: Miami, Florida 1971: Port Everglades, Florida
Identification	Hull symbol: AMS-204 Hull symbol: MSC-204
Fate	Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia
United States
Name	Virginia Sea
Operator	VIMS
Acquired	1 July 1975
Refit	Ocean Research Vessel
Fate	Scrapped 1 August 1982
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Bluebird-class minesweeper
Displacement	320 long tons (330 t)
Length	144 ft (44 m)
Beam	28 ft (8.5 m)
Draft	9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Installed power	2 × General Motors 880 horsepower (660 kW) 8-268A diesel engines 1,760 horsepower (1,310 kW)
Propulsion	Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear 2 × screws
Speed	13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	39
Armament	2 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon cannons anti-aircraft (AA) mounts

Construction

The second Thrush was laid down 7 May 1954, by Tampa Marine Company, Tampa, Florida; launched on 5 January 1955, as AMS-204; sponsored by Mrs. Edgar S. Russell; reclassified as MSC-204, on 7 February 1955; and commissioned on 8 November 1955.^[2]

Assignments

Soon after her commissioning in November 1955, Thrush arrived in Chesapeake Bay to conduct a successful shakedown cruise. In 1956, she was assigned to the Yorktown, Virginia, Mine Warfare School, followed in August by assignment to Norfolk, Virginia, to participate in Operation Hideaway. In 1957, Thrush moved to her new homeport in Key West, Florida, where she tested and evaluated new mine warfare equipment for the 6th Naval District's Mine Warfare Evaluation Detachment.^[2]

While serving as a Naval Reservist, then-Lieutenant, later Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins Jr. was Thrush's commanding officer from 1968 to 1969.^[3]

In 1974, she assisted in expanding the Osborne Artificial Reef.^[4]