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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Builder | Wilmington Boat Works |
| Laid down | 15 May 1952 |
| Launched | 25 June 1954 |
| Commissioned | 10 November 1954 |
| Decommissioned | 22 September 1972 |
| Stricken | 28 February 1975 |
| Homeport | Long Beach, California |
| Fate | disposed of by Navy sale 1 November 1976 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 775 tons (full load) |
| Length | 172 ft (52 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draught | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
| Speed | 15 knots |
| Complement | 74 |
| Armament | one40 mm mount |
USSReaper (MSO-467) was anAgile-classminesweeper acquired by theU.S. Navy for the task of removing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships.
The second ship to be namedReaper by the Navy,MSO-467 was laid down 15 May 1952 byWilmington Boat Works,Wilmington, California; launched 25 June 1954; sponsored by Mrs. John A. Snackenherg; and commissioned 10 November 1954.
Aftershakedown,Reaper sailed for the westernPacific Ocean 1 May 1956. DepartingSasebo, Japan, she participated in training exercises atTaiwan with theRepublic of China, and helped to search for aP4M aircraft shot down byCommunist China.
Arriving atLong Beach, California, 15 November, she trained offCalifornia in 1957 and early 1958. Deployed to the western Pacific 3 November 1958, she visited Sasebo, Japan;Kaohsiung,Taiwan;Chinhae, Korea;Sattahip,Thailand;Subic Bay,Philippines; andBuckner Bay,Okinawa, before arriving at Long Beach 31 May 1959.
During an amphibious exercise in November 1959, she operated out ofKodiak, Alaska, with Canadian minesweepers. After training in 1960, she deployed to the western Pacific 4 January 1961, and participated in separate exercises with thePhilippine Navy, and theNationalist Chinese Navy, before arriving via Japan at Long Beach 17 July. Departing Long Beach 16 November 1962 for western Pacific deployment, she joined exercise in the Philippines and Taiwan, including aSEATO exercise offManila Bay, Luzon, before returning to Long Beach 22 June 1963.
After exercises offCalifornia, she remained active with theU.S. Pacific Fleet in 1964 and 1965. Sailing for the western Pacific 21 September 1966, she participated in "Operation Market Time" patrol duty offVietnam during November and December, and in February and March 1967, before reaching Long Beach 27 July. Deployed to the western Pacific again in April 1968, she patrolled offVietnam and visited Chinhae, Korea; and Sattahip, Thailand, arriving Long Beach 3 December. Reaper deployed for the final time to the Western Pacific in the fall of 1969; Lt Cmdr Robert Kahler commanding. In early 1970, she came under mortar fire when anchored near Vung Tau, Vietnam. In February, Reaper provided covering fire for her boarding team sent to check out a grounded and abandoned small coastal freighter. The boarding team had come under heavy fire from opposing forces ashore. This deployment also saw the untimely death, as the result of a non-combat ship-board accident, of SF2 Lester Riley Jr. Reaper remained active with the U.S. Seventh Fleet until 2 May 1970 when she returned to theU.S. West Coast.
Upon her return, she was assigned duty as aU.S. Naval Reservetraining ship and remained so engaged until being decommissioned 22 September 1972.
After decommissioning she was transferred to the Ships Inactivation and Maintenance Facility atVallejo, California.Reaper was stricken from theNavy list 28 February 1975 and disposed of by Navy sale 1 November 1976.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Also, 1969-1970 crew accounts.
