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USS Phoebe (MSC-199)
Encyclopedia
USS Phoebe (MSC-199) was an Bluebird-class motor minesweeper
Motor minesweeper
A motor minesweeper is a small minesweeper, powered by an internal combustion engine, very often of wooden construction, designed to locate and destroy mines in coastal waters and harbours...
acquired by the U.S. Navy for clearing coastal minefields.
The second Phoebe to be so-named by the Navy, AMS-199 was laid down by the Harbor Boat Building Co., Terminal Island, California, 26 February 1953, launched 21 August 1954, sponsored by Mrs. Anne Elizabeth Gotch; reclassified MSC-199 on 7 February 1955; and commissioned 29 April 1955, Lt. George D. Ferguson in command.
Service as training ship
After training out of Long Beach, CaliforniaLong Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
, and San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, Phoebe served as a schoolship for the prospective crew of in early summer and in September, of .
Operations in the Far East
Phoebe became flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Mine Division 31, Mine Squadron 3, on 6 January 1956. She departed Long Beach 4 March for the Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, touched the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
, and arrived Yokosuka, Japan, 4 April. Six days later she shifted to Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
, her permanent base of operations. A unit of Mine Squadron 3, Phoebe spent the next eight years in a rigorous schedule of minehunting and warfare tactics with the U.S. 7th Fleet. Much of her time was taken for maneuvers with minesweeping units of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, the Chinese Nationalist Navy, the Republic of Korea Navy
Republic of Korea Navy
The Republic of Korea Navy or the ROK Navy is the branch of the South Korean armed forces responsible for conducting naval operations and amphibious landing operations. The ROK Navy includes the Republic of Korea Marine Corps, which is a quasi-autonomous organization...
, and the Republic of the Philippines Navy. This duty took her to the principal ports of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, Okinawa, and the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Early 1964 was spent operating out of Japan and Okinawa In July Phoebe sailed for Subic Bay
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay forming part of Luzon Sea on the west coast of the island of Luzon in Zambales, Philippines, about 100 kilometers northwest of Manila Bay. Its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility named U.S...
, the South China Sea
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, returning to Subic Bay in August. A U.S.-Korean mine exercise was held in October, and a U.S.-Japanese mine exercise in December.
Supporting Operation Market Time
Phoebe spent five months of 1965 on "Operation Market TimeOperation Market Time
Operation Market Time was the United States Navy’s effort to stop troops and supplies from flowing by sea from North Vietnam to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War...
" in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. She spent the beginning, middle, and end of the year in Japan. During the year she steamed 24,000 miles, reaching as far from her homeport as Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
.
In March 1967 Phoebe resumed "Market Time" operations in Vietnam waters. Most of the rest of the year she operated out of Sasebo, with a combined U.S.-Republic of China mine exercise in September, and more "Market Time" service in November.
Boarding junks and other operations
In February 1968 Phoebe took part in a combined U.S.-Japanese mine exercise. Most of the rest of the year she operated out of Sasebo, with a "Market Time" patrol in September and October, during which she boarded 201 junks and a U.S.-Korean mine exercise in November. As of late 1969 Phoebe still operated out of Sasebo, Japan.Decommissioning
Phoebe was decommissioned, (date unknown), struck from the Naval Vessel RegisterNaval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
, 1 July 1975, and was disposed of through the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service
DLA Disposition Services is part of the United States Defense Logistics Agency...
for scrap, 1 September 1976.