USS Redwing (AMS-200)

Shrike (AMS-201), Redwing (MSC-200), Hummingbird (MSC-192), Frigate Bird (MSC-191), and Falcon (MS-190) at Charleston, South Carolina
History
United States
Name	Redwing
Namesake	Redwing
Builder	Tampa Marine Company, Tampa, Florida
Laid down	1 July 1953
Launched	29 April 1954
Commissioned	7 January 1955
Decommissioned	16 June 1959
Reclassified	Coastal Minesweeper, 7 February 1955
Stricken	18 June 1959
Identification	Hull symbol: AMS-200 Hull symbol: MSC-200
Fate	Transferred to the Spanish Navy
Spain
Name	Sil
Acquired	18 June 1959
Reclassified	Patrol Craft, late 1970s Minesweeper, 1982
Stricken	25 September 2002
Identification	Hull sumbol: M-29 Hull sumbol: PVZ-55 Hull sumbol: M-27 Code letters: EBJD (M27)
Fate	Retired, 15 April 2003
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Bluebird-class minesweeper
Displacement	335 long tons (340 t)
Length	144 ft (44 m)
Beam	28 ft (8.5 m)
Draft	8 ft 4 in (2.54 m)
Installed power	2 × General Motors 8-268A diesel engines 880 horsepower (660 kW) each
Propulsion	2 × screws
Speed	14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Armament	2 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon cannons anti-aircraft (AA) mounts

USS Redwing (AMS/MSC-200) was a Bluebird-class minesweeper in the United States Navy.

Redwing was laid down 1 July 1953, by Tampa Marine Company, Tampa, Florida; launched 29 April 1954, as AMS-200; sponsored by Mrs. Courtney W. Campbell, wife of US Representative Campbell of Florida; and commissioned 7 January 1955.^[2]

Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Redwing arrived Charleston, South Carolina, 23 January 1955. Reclassified a coastal minesweeper, MSC-200 on 7 February, she underwent shakedown out of Key West, Florida, commencing 3 March. Returning via Mayport, Florida, to search for downed aircraft, she arrived Charleston, 20 April, and commenced minesweeping operations with various units of the Fleet.^[2]

Redwing arrived Panama City, Florida, 5 July, and provided services to the Mine Defense Laboratory through 9 September. She then joined Tonawanda for special development operations at Key West, before returning to Charleston, 22 September. Redwing continued to operate out of Charleston, until January 1957, participating in minesweeping and amphibious training exercises as far south as Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and Vieques, Puerto Rico.^[2]

She departed Charleston, 16 January, to provide services for the Naval Mine Warfare School at Yorktown, Virginia, and to operate under the Amphibious Training Command, Little Creek, Virginia. She then conducted surveys in Boston Channel, beginning 3 October, followed by exercises along the New Jersey coast in January 1958.^[2]

Departing New York, 25 February, for exercises as far south as Key West, she returned to Boston, Massachusetts, 21 March, and for the next year provided services for the Destroyer Development Group in Narragansett Bay.^[2]

Redwing departed Boston, 26 February 1959, en route Norfolk, Virginia, for overhaul in preparation for transfer to Spain. Decommissioned at Norfolk 16 June 1959, she was struck from the Navy List and transferred to the Spanish Navy as Sil (M-29) effective 18 June 1959.^[2]

Citations

• Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
• Mine Warfare Ship Photo Archives
• Photo gallery of USS Redwing (AMS/MSC-200) at NavSource Naval History