USS Loyalty

USS Loyalty may refer to:

USS Loyalty (AMc-88)

USS Loyalty (AMc-88) was an Accentor-class coastal minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Loyalty was laid down by F. L. Fulton, Antioch, California, 8 May 1941; launched 23 August 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Donald Noackk; and placed in service 17 January 1942.

Assigned to the 14th Naval District, Loyalty, performed patrol and minesweeping operations out of Pearl Harbor. She was commissioned 15 December 1944, Lt. Robert H. Grayson in command. Following conversion to an underwater location ship, Loyalty sailed 1 May 1945 for the western Pacific. After touching Eniwetok, Guam, and Saipan, the minesweeper arrived Okinawa 18 June.

Throughout the summer, Loyalty operated out of Okinawa on various underwater demolition and salvage mission. Her duties included the blasting of a sunken Japanese ammunition ship and the removal of 40 depth charges from a sunken enemy destroyer.

She remained in the western Pacific after V-J Day. While en route to Unten Ko, Okinawa, 16 September, she struck a reef and grounded. Loyalty decommissioned 4 December 1945 and was struck from the Navy list the 19th. She was destroyed 12 January 1946.

USS Loyalty (AM-457)

USS Loyalty (AM-457/MSO-457) was an Aggressive-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the task of removing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships.

The second warship to be named Loyalty by the Navy, AM-457 was laid down by Wilmington Boat Works Inc., Wilmington, California, 9 November 1951; launched 22 November 1953; sponsored by Mrs. William L. Horton; and commissioned 11 June 1954, Lt. E. W. Riordan in command.

First WestPac cruise

After shakedown Loyalty operated out of her home port, Long Beach, California, for the remaining months of 1954. Reclassified MSO-457 on 7 February 1955, the new minesweeper sailed on her first WestPac cruise 1 July. Operating with the U.S. 7th Fleet, Loyalty engaged in minesweeping exercises off Japan, Taiwan, and Korea before returning to Long Beach in February 1956.

Three more Far East tours of duty

From 1956 until late 1964 Loyalty sailed on three WestPac cruises; performed special operations in 1962 during the nuclear tests in the Pacific Ocean; and exercised off the California coast perfecting the techniques of modern mine warfare. She also performed sonar searches for downed aircraft. Her service with the powerful U.S. 7th Fleet was climaxed during her 1964 cruise. Following the Gulf of Tonkin incident when North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked U.S. destroyers in international waters, Loyalty was dispatched to steam off the coast of Vietnam ready for further provocation.