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COMMANDING OFFICERS
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LT Paul Pauze
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1971-1974
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The second Thrush (MSC-204) was laid down as AMS-204 on 7 May 1954 at Tampa, Fla., by the Tampa
Marine Co.; launched on 5 January 1955; sponsored by Mrs. Edgar S. Russell; redesignated MSC-204 on 7 February 1955; and commissioned
on 8 November 1955, Lt. (jg.) Richard Anthony Dallamura in command.
Late in November 1955, the new coastal minesweeper reported at Charleston for duty with Mine Division
42 and then conducted shakedown in Chesapeake Bay. In 1956, she moved to Yorktown, her new homeport; carried out assignments
for the Mine Warfare School; and in August proceeded to Norfolk, her base for Operation "Hideaway." Early in 1957, she was
assigned to the 6th Naval District and homeported at Key West. There she tested and evaluated new mine warfare equipment for
the Mine Warfare Evaluation Detachment.
In 1958 and 1959, she participated in mine warfare exercises out of Charleston and Norfolk, including
NATO exercises. In August 1959, she again shifted home ports, this time to Coco Solo at the Atlantic entrance of the Panama
Canal. She operated from that base until 1962 when she was ordered to Miami. There, she trained naval reserve crews for nine
years. In 1971, she moved to Port Everglades, whence she continued her assignment with the Naval Reserve Force. At times,
she served as a training ship for three reserve crews: two underway crews and an in-port maintenance unit—all elements
of the Selected Reserve System. Conducting reserve cruises, visiting east coast ports, and ranging as far as the Bahamas for
minesweeping exercises, she continued training Florida Reserves for the Mine Warfare Service, Atlantic Fleet, into 1975. In
1976, she was transferred to the Naval Oceanographic Office.
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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