USS Tercel ( AM - 386 ) USS " Tercel " ( AM - 386 ) was an acquired by the United States Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing . " Tercel " was named after the " Tercel , " the male of various hawks , especially of the peregrine falcon and the goshawk . " Tercel " was laid down on 16 May 1944 by the American Ship Building Company , Lorain , Ohio ; launched on 16 December 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . J . H . Thompson ; and commissioned on 21 August 1945 , Lt . Comdr . M . Dent , Jr . , USNR , in command . East Coast operations . Following trials in Lake Erie , " Tercel " headed for the $ 3 via the Great Lakes waterway and the St . Lawrence River . She arrived at Boston on 7 September and was outfitted . Sailing on 2 November , " Tercel " reached Little Creek , Virginia , the next day for her shakedown cruise . " Tercel " was assigned to Mine Forces , Atlantic Fleet , on 1 January 1946 , when that organization was activated . She stood out of Norfolk , Virginia , a week later and conducted exercises in the Chesapeake Bay until 21 March . In April , she was assigned to the Mine Warfare School at Yorktown , Virginia , and supported that establishment until 2 July 1946 . The minesweeper conducted local operations and participated in exercises along the eastern seaboard from the Caribbean to New London , Connecticut . Assignment to the Mediterranean . On 20 July 1951 when she arrived at Charleston , South Carolina . " Tercel " stood out of Charleston in early September 1951 for her first deployment to the Mediterranean . While there , she called at Gibraltar and ports in Italy , France , Malta , and Greece . Upon her return to Charleston on 6 February 1952 , she resumed her normal U . S . East Coast routine . Operation Dew I . Operation Dew I was a Chemical , Biological , Radio - logical ( CBR ) warfare experiment . Dew I consisted of five separate trials from 26 March 1952 until 21 April 1952 that were designed to test the feasibility of maintaining a large aerosol cloud released offshore until it drifted over land , achieving a large area coverage ( LAC ) . The tests released zinc cadmium sulfide along a line approximately off the coast of Georgia , North Carolina and South Carolina . Two of the trials dispersed clouds of zinc cadmium sulfide over large areas of all three U . S . states . The tests affected over 60 , 000 square miles ( 150 , 000 km² ) of populated coastal region in the U . S . southeast . The Dew I releases were from a Navy minesweeper , the . Second Mediterranean assignment . " Tercel " was again deployed to the Mediterranean from 21 April to 26 October 1953 . Then , after approximately eight months of operations in home waters , the minesweeper was transferred to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet for a preinactivation overhaul . Decommissioning . The ship was placed out of commission , in reserve , at Orange , Texas , on 10 November 1954 . On 7 February 1955 , she was redesignated MSF - 386 and reclassified a steel - hulled fleet minesweeper . " Tercel " was struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1972 . Fate . The Naval Vessel Register lists " Tercel " as " Disposed of , type of disposal not known " and has a note saying : " Presumed scrapped date unknown " , this is incorrect , she was not scrapped . " Tercel " was used as a Salvage Training Hulk from 1972 – 1988 . She was sunk as a target on 6 April 1988 , being towed to the target area by the USS Grapple ( ARS - 53 ) .