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COMMANDING OFFICERS
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LT D.R.Shanks III
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Jun 1957-Jun 1958
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LT W.J.Coakley Jr.
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Jun 1958-1959
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LT W.E.Vollmer Jr.
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1959-Jun 1961
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LT R.L.Grimmell
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Jun 1961-Aug 1963
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LT George E. O'Brien
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Aug 1963-Jul 1965
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LT James R.Darwin
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Jul 1965-Mar 1967
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LT Donald J.Capie
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Mar 1967-Sep 1968
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LT W.T.Harrod
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Sep 1968-Oct 1968 (OIC)
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LT R.E.Laguerre
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Oct 1968 (OIC)
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Navy Expeditionary Medal : Jan 03 1961 to Jan 27 1961 for Cuba.
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal : Dec 01 1965 to Jan 29 1966 and Feb 10 1966 to Feb 18 1966 for
Dominican Republic.
The second Humming Bird, usually spelled Hummingbird (MSC-192), was originally classified: AMS-192,
but reclassified 7 February 1955. She was launched by Quincy Adams Yacht Yard, Inc., Quincy, Mass., 27 January 1954; sponsored
by Mrs. Felice Low; and commissioned 9 February 1955, Lt. (j.g.) W. J. Whitley in command.
Following shakedown training off Key West in June, Hummingbird underwent minesweeping training at
Charleston S.C., in July. From 21 October to 14 November she took part in her first amphibious exercises, sweeping the landing
area and dropping marker buoy to guide the simulated assault on the shores of North Carolina. Arriving New York 8 January
1956, she took part in surveying work for the Hydrographic Office until 15 February, after which Hummingbird returned to Charleston.
During 1957 and 1958 the ship was based at Mine Warfare School, Yorktown, Va., and in March 1958
she participated in another large amphibious operation at Onslow, North Carolina. In 1959 she shifted her home port to the
amphibious base at Little Creek, Va., and continued to perform minesweeping duties during the periodic practice assaults on
the Atlantic coast. She arrived Halifax, Nova Scotia, 6 October 1960 to take part in Sweep Clear V, a NATO minesweeping exercise
with Canadian mine craft, returning to Little Creek 26 October. In July 1961 Hummingbird repeated this highly successful combined
exercise in Canadian waters.
The year 1962 saw more rigorous mine warfare training for Hummingbird, with amphibious operations
at Onslow and in the Caribbean. The versatile ship also took part in a search for a downed Air Force plane off Delaware 1
June before departing for Panama City, Fla., to take part in mine experiments. September included a third NATO minesweeping
exercise. As American naval power quarantined Cuba in October, Hummingbird stood ready in case larger operations were necessary,
and in early 1963 took part in patrols off Cuba. From 1963 to 1967 the veteran minesweeper continued her training and readiness
operations, a vital part of America's fighting power on the seas.
Members of the minesweeping community; The Lucid MSO-458 Foundation was formed by a group of minesweeper
crewmen who served aboard US Navy MSO's. MSO's are a class of wooden hull oceangoing minesweepers that are now decommissioned
and fading from public memory. The group has obtained the USS Lucid MSO-458 and has her docked at Bradford Island, California.
Work has begun! The organization is restoring her and a public museum is established. The MSO is a little known and poorly
documented, extremely interesting facet of Naval history. The USS Lucid Museum is dedicated to telling the story of the minesweeping
men and their wooden ships, the last all wooden US Naval ships, to navigate the oceans. We will be telling the stories of
Mine Recovery and UDT teams, Floating Pigs, Hammer Boxes, Magtails, Aluminum Engines and Towed Sonar. The little known stories
of Contact, Magnetic and Acoustic minesweeping as well as the mystery of Magnetic Countermeasures will be told through the
displays, narratives and museum media. Typhoons, tiny ships and ice-clad superstructures are only a small part of the "Wooden
Ships and Iron Men" story. From sweeping the Mekong Delta in Viet Nam, observing the final Nuclear blasts on Johnston Island
to sweeping the Persian Gulf, "Where the Fleet Goes, We've Been" will be clearly illustrated. Since there is no other Naval
Museum that even attempts to tell the story of the MSO the USS Lucid is an important and living detail of US Naval History.
First, Lucid must undergo a restoration. Previous civilian owners for commercial use have modified her. She needs hull repairs
and painting and re-outfitting to be brought back to her former Naval dignity and glory. The Lucid MSO-458 Foundation has
a workforce of planners, engineers and volunteer manpower who are vested and committed to this grand and worthy project. Bringing
her to life is a large financial undertaking. We’re looking for tax-exempt gifts from the Military Industrial sector
and individuals to help with this extremely valuable endeavor. Of course, all donors will be properly and prominently acknowledged
aboard the vessel. Your donation will help preserve this vital part of Naval History. Please join us in telling the MSO story
by sending a tax-exempt gift to Lucid MSO-458 Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit foundation through our website. http://www.usslucid.org
W.W."Mike"Warren EN2
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