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USS ''Widgeon'' (AMS-208), a of the United States Navy, was laid down on 3 May 1954 at Bellingham, Washington, by the Bellingham Shipyards, Inc.; launched on 15 October 1954; sponsored by Mrs. John F. Cushing, the wife of the treasurer of the Bellingham Shipyards; reclassified MSC-208 on 7 February 1955; and commissioned at the naval station at Tacoma, Washington, on 16 November 1955, Lt. Bruce G. Stone in command. ==Pacific Ocean operations== Ready for sea on 15 December 1955, USS ''Widgeon'' — a unit of the Pacific Fleet Mine Force — sailed on 3 January 1956 for visits to San Francisco and Long Beach, California. The new minesweeper operated out of the latter port until 29 January, at which time she shifted to San Diego to undergo shakedown training. Upon completion of shakedown, the ship underwent a four-week availability at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. The ship underwent further trials and alterations before she sailed to the Western Pacific Ocean (WestPac) on 1 October 1956. Proceeding in company with Mine Division (MinDiv) 95, ''Widgeon'' reported to Commander, Naval Forces, Far East (ComNavFE) for duty and was assigned to MinDiv 32, Mine Squadron 3, Mine Flotilla 1. Homeported at Sasebo, Japan, ''Widgeon'' operated in the Far East for the next 13 years. During that time, she participated in local operations in Japanese waters, as well as voyages to Korea and Okinawa for exercises. She conducted joint minesweeping operations and exercises with units of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces, the Republic of Korea Navy, Chinese Nationalist Navy, and visited ports such as Kobe, Yokosuka, Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Aburatsu, Beppu, Kochi, Tsushima, Japan; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Maisuru, Japan; Hong Kong; Buckner Bay; Subic Bay, Philippines; and Pphang and Koje Do, Korea. Interspersed with her active training evolutions, the minesweeper underwent routine periods of upkeep and alterations and repairs at her home port of Sasebo. ==Vietnam War operations== Participation in the increasing American involvement in the Vietnam War, however, highlighted the minesweeper's lengthy WestPac deployment. From the mid-1960s, the ship commenced a regular schedule of deployments on "Operation Market Time" patrol stations in the coastal waters off South Vietnam, on patrol and interdiction to cut off the seaborne flow of supplies to the communist Viet Cong forces inside South Vietnam. During one such cruise in January 1967, while being diverted from a "Operation Market Time" patrol to conduct classified operations in the Gulf of Tonkin, the ship made the national news when she was rammed by a swordfish. Later during that same cruise, while the ship was crossing the South China Sea, she sighted a McDonnell F4-C Phantom crash into the sea. ''Widgeon'' altered course in time to rescue one man of the two-man crew. The other flier, the pilot, died in the crash. Commander, Naval Forces, Philippines, later cited ''Widgeon'' for her outstanding performance of duty during the rescue. ==Post-Vietnam operations== ''Widgeon'' returned to Sasebo on 17 February 1967, worn and beaten from heavy seas, and was under repairs during March and April. On 1 May, a Navy P-3 Orion patrol plane, with a crew of 12 men on board, crashed in the Tsushima Strait off the southern coast of Korea. ''Widgeon'' headed for the scene of the crash, transiting the hazardous Hirado Strait for search and rescue (SAR) operations. She searched for two days and recovered numerous bits of debris but was unable to locate any survivors or the fuselage of the plane. The minesweeper ultimately returned to Sasebo on 5 May to commence refresher training. ''Widgeon'' spent the months of July through September on her sixth "Market Time" patrol and a cruise in the South China Sea. Departing Sasebo on 3 July, the minesweeper arrived at Bangkok, Thailand, on the 15th. She later operated with mine countermeasures units of the Royal Thai Navy in the Gulf of Thailand in a SEATO exercise, "Sea Dog," before she operated on "Operation Market Time" stations from 27 July to 12 September. When she arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 16 September, the ship's crew had not touched land in 60 days. ''Widgeon'' subsequently spent the rest of the year engaged in local operations out of Sasebo and Buckner Bay, Okinawa, and made a visit to Hong Kong for rest and recreation. 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 Widgeon (AMS-208)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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