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USS ''Inaugural'' (AM-242) was an fleet minesweeper. The ''Admirable'' class was the largest and one of the most successful classes of U.S. minesweepers ordered during World War II. ''Inaugural'' was launched on 1 October 1944, and was commissioned on 30 December, with Lieutenant John H. Pace USNR in command. The ship was decommissioned in 1946 and set up as a museum ship in St. Louis, Missouri in 1968. In the flood of 1993, ''Inaugural'' was ripped from her mooring and grounded a mile downstream. As of December 2014, the hulk was still sitting on the Missouri side of the river. ==Operations== ''Inaugural'' was built and launched by the Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company of Winslow, Washington. Following shakedown off the California coast, ''Inaugural'' sailed on 14 March 1945 for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived eight days later. For the next two months, the minesweeper performed patrol and escort duties between Hawaii and the islands of the western Pacific. She was at Saipan on 22 May and departed that day with a convoy bound for Okinawa, site of the last and largest amphibious operation of the Pacific war. After a voyage enlivened by several attacks on suspected submarines, the convoy reached Okinawa on 30 May. During the desperate struggle for Okinawa, ''Inaugural'' patrolled the seas around the island group, often firing at enemy planes as Japanese aircraft made a suicidal effort to stop American ground forces by destroying their support from the sea. Except for the period 19 through 24 July, when the ship put to sea to ride out the great typhoon, ''Inaugural'' remained in the dangerous waters around Okinawa until 30 August 1945. With the war then over, she steamed to the waters around Japan and Korea for minesweeping operations that were a necessary prelude to occupation. She swept the approaches to Jinsen, Korea, in September, and later cleared mines in waters off Nagasaki and Sasebo, Japan. ''Inaugural'' proceeded to Okinawa where she received needed equipment 14–24 October, and then returned to the important minesweeping operations around the Japanese home islands. The veteran minesweeper sailed on 24 December for the United States, via Saipan and Pearl Harbor, and arrived at San Pedro, California, on 7 February 1946. Sailing again on 11 March, she proceeded to Galveston, Texas, and decommissioned there on 9 September 1946. She was reclassified MSF-242 on 7 February 1955. ''Inaugural'' entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, where she remained until struck from the Navy List on 1 March 1967 and sold. ''Inaugural'' had performed her duties with distinction. By the end of her career, she had cleared eighty-two mines and was awarded two battle stars for service during World War II. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Inaugural (AM-242)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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