USS Reedbird ( AMS - 51 ) USS " Reedbird " ( AMS - 51 / YMS - 291 ) was a acquired by the U . S . Navy for the dangerous task of removal of mines that had been placed in coastal waters to prevent ships from passing . Operational history . The second ship to be named " Reedbird " by the Navy was laid down as " YMS - 291 " by the Associated Shipbuilders , Seattle , Washington , 29 January 1943 ; launched 20 April 1943 , and commissioned 9 August 1943 . Delayed by a lack of equipment , " YMS - 291 " completed shakedown 11 November 1943 and 4 days later reported for 5 months duty with the Western Sea Frontier . In mid - April 1944 she headed west to join the U . S . 5th Fleet ' s Amphibious Force for Operation Forager , the invasion and occupation of the Marianas . Assigned to TG 52 . 12 , the minesweeping and hydrographic survey group , she commenced operations in the Marianas with the assault on Saipan , 15 June , continued them through operations against Guam and Tinian , into the new year , 1945 . In late March , she steamed north , operated in the Iwo Jima area through the first week in April , then returned to Saipan , whence she sailed for the United States . Arriving at San Pedro , California , 19 May , " YMS - 291 " headed west again 20 July . Brief operations in Hawaii and in the Marshalls followed and , after the cessation of hostilities , she returned to Saipan where she joined task force TF 95 and continued westward for postwar sweeping operations in Japanese and Korean waters . From 3 November to 7 December she swept channels in the Fukuoka area , then shifted to Honshū and until March 1946 operated primarily in the Inland Sea . " YMS - 291 " departed Kobe for the United States 11 March . Arriving at San Francisco , California , 26 April , she was ordered to the U . S . East Coast whence she proceeded up the Atlantic coast , ascended the St . Lawrence River and entered the Great Lakes , arriving at her homeport , Chicago , Illinois , in the fall . There on 1 November 1946 , she decommissioned and was placed in service for duty as a Naval Reserve Training Ship . Named " Reedbird " and redesignated " AMS - 51 " , 1 September 1947 , she trained Reservists of the 9th Naval District for 3 years . In November 1949 she headed for New Orleans , Louisiana , thence sailed to Orange , Texas , where she was placed out of service 6 December 1949 and berthed as a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . She was recommissioned 15 February 1951 and assigned to the U . S . Atlantic Fleet . For the next 6½ years , " Reedbird " redesignated " MSCO - 51 " on 7 February 1955 , remained on the east coast , operating primarily in the Charleston , South Carolina , Yorktown , Virginia , Newport , Rhode Island , and Key West , Florida , areas on various assignments ranging from local operations and training exercises , including schoolship and Naval Reserve training duties , to operational testing for the Naval Ordnance Lab and hydrographic surveys . Reassigned to the Pacific coast and to reserve training duties in September 1957 , " Reedbird " transited the Panama Canal and in November arrived at San Diego , California , where she decommissioned 16 December . Attached to the 11th Naval District as Naval Reserve Training Ship , she remained in southern California until transferred , 6 years later , to the 3rd Naval District and assigned reserve training duty at Portsmouth , New Hampshire . The " MSCO " continued her training duties there until ordered to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , in the summer of 1968 for inactivation . Then placed out of service and stripped , she was struck from the Navy list on 1 October 1968 . Awards and honors . " YMS - 291 " earned two battle stars during World War II .