USS Waxbill ( MHC - 50 ) USS " Waxbill " ( MHC - 50 / AMCU - 50 / AMS - 39 / YMS - 479 / PCS - 1456 ) was a acquired by the U . S . Navy for the task of removing mine s placed in the water to prevent ships from passing . History . The second U . S . Navy ship named for the waxbill bird , the ship was originally the wooden - hulled , unnamed motor minesweeper " YMS - 479 " . Laid down as " PCS - 1456 " on 28 April 1943 at Tacoma , Washington , by the Mojean and Ericson Shipbuilding Corp . , the ship was reclassifled as a motor minesweeper , " YMS - 479 " , on 27 September 1943 . Launched on 30 September 1943 , " YMS - 479 " was commissioned at the Mojean and Ericson yard on 20 July 1944 , Lt . Richard A . Woods , USNR , in command . After fitting out at the Todd Pacific Shipyard , Tacoma , Washington , the new minecraft departed the Seattle , Washington , area on 13 August . Making port at Long Beach , California , on 17 August , she conducted shakedown out of that port until 8 September , when she shifted to San Diego , California , for training in antisubmarine warfare tactics . She departed San Diego on 25 September , when she sailed with as screen for tank landing ship s , , and , bound for the Hawaiian Islands . After arriving at the Section Base , Pearl Harbor , on 6 October , " YMS - 479 " had begun patrolling off Kauai by the end of the month . She operated in the Hawaiian chain through February 1945 , providing local escort services for ships conducting maneuvers and exercises off Maui , Kauai , or Oahu , ranging from attack transport s to LSTs . During that time , she also carried out patrols and periodically tested her sweep gear . Assigned to the United States Pacific Fleet on 6 March , the motor minesweeper departed Pearl Harbor on 23 March , bound for the Marshall Islands . She subsequently operated out of Eniwetok , Kwajalein , and Majuro through the end of the Pacific War in mid - August 1945 . Departing Kwajalein on 10 December , " YMS - 479 " arrived at Pearl Harbor on Christmas Day and subsequently operated in the Hawaiian Islands into 1946 . Departing Pearl Harbor on 20 February in company with , " YMS - 479 " arrived at San Francisco , California , on 1 March and began preparations for inactivation . " YMS - 479 " was accordingly decommissioned on 6 August 1946 and was placed in the San Diego group of the Reserve Fleet . Named " USS Waxbill " and reclassified as " AMS - 39 " on 18 February 1947 while still in reserve , the minecraft was taken out of " mothballs " on 5 January 1949 ; and work began to ready her to resume duty . On 19 January , " Waxbill " was placed " in service " and , within a week , she was assigned to the 13th Naval District . She served as a U . S . Naval Reserve training ship , attached to the Navy and Marine Corps Training Center at Seattle , Washington , where she served through the spring of 1950 . With the onset of the Korean War in June and consequent American support for the United Nations intervention to aid the embattled South Koreans , the Navy expanded accordingly . " Waxbill " was recommissioned , albeit " in reserve , " on 1 September 1950 . Ultimately , she was placed in full commission on 25 September , Lt . ( jg . ) F . J . Crozier in command . Duty in the inhospitable Korean waters soon beckoned " Waxbill " . The minecraft departed San Diego , California , on 27 February 1951 , bound for the Far East . After stopovers at Pearl Harbor and the Japan ese ports of Sasebo and Yokosuka , Japan , " Waxbill " commenced her tour of Korean War service on 12 May in operation area " S " . She participated in combat minesweeping operations off Wonsan , Pusan , Inchon , Kyoshin Tan , and To Jang Po into 1953 . Her operations took her to both coasts of the Korean peninsula — east and west — and she swept over 40 mines , earning the Korean Presidential Unit Citation for her often hazardous and unsung mine - sweeping chores . During that time , she operated out of Sasebo and , in between deployments to Korean waters , visited such Japan ese ports as Kobe , Nagasaki , Yokosuka , Moji , and Fukuoka . " Waxbill " remained in the Far East even after hostilities in Korea ceased . She was reclassified as coastal minehunter AMCU - 50 on 1 February 1955 , and , only six days later , again reclassified " MHC - 50 " . After her conversion to a coastal minehunter , she departed Yokosuka , Japan , on 10 August , bound for the United States . Sailing via Midway Island , Pearl Harbor , and Long Beach , California , " Waxbill " made port at San Francisco , California , on 8 September . She operated off the coast of southern California into 1958 , visiting , in the course of that deployment , such ports as Santa Cruz , San Francisco , and San Diego . Placed " in commission , in reserve , " status on 1 May 1958 , " Waxbill " was placed in the Stockton , California , group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet , on 16 May , and was ultimately placed out of commission , in reserve , on 30 June 1958 . While exact details of the ship ' s ultimate fate are lacking , it is known that " Waxbill " was struck from the Navy list on 1 November 1959 . Awards and honors . " Waxbill " received six battle stars and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for Korean War service .