Kingbird II MSC-194

Kingbird

II

(MSC-194: dp. 370; 1. 144'; b. 28'; dr. 8'6"; s. 14 k.; a. 2 20mm.; cl. Bluebird)

The second Kingbird (MSC-194) was launched 21 May 1954 by the Quincy Adams Yacht Yard Inc., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Marion Cushman Wilson; and commissioned 27 April 1955, Lt. (i.g.) R. E. Alder, in command.

After shakedown, Kingbird arrived Charleston, S.C., for minesweep training and for the entire year she perfected methods of detecting and destroying mines. She also participated in exercises which kept her ready for any service she might be called upon to perform. From 1956 through 1964 Kingbird engaged in minesweeping exercises along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to the Canal Zone in the Caribbean. During 1965 she displayed her versatility in two search operations: one for a downed Navy plane and the other a lost merchant ship. In 1967 she still operates out of Charleston.