USS Gannet ( MSC - 290 ) USS " Gannet " ( MSC - 290 ) was an of the United States Navy . Laid down on 1 May 1959 by the Tacoma Boatbuilding Co . , Inc . , Tacoma , Washington , the ship was launched on 2 May 1960 , sponsored by Mrs . Frank P . Luongo , Jr . ; and commissioned in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 14 July 1961 , Lt . E . L . Gaylor in command . Pacific Ocean operations . After shakedown , " Gannet " departed Puget Sound on 4 August 1961 and arrived Long Beach , California , on 9 August . As a unit of Mine Division 92 , she operated off southern California and conducted exercises in mine countermeasures . During the first two weeks in June 1962 she participated in Joint Task Force 8 nuclear tests off the California coast . Local operations out of Long Beach , California , continued until 2 July when she departed for Japan via Pearl Harbor , Midway , and Guam , arriving Sasebo on 13 August . After type training off the Japanese coast with Mine Division 32 , she departed Sasebo on 1 October for Chinhae , Korea , where she joined in mine force exercises with units of the Republic of Korea Navy . After returning to Sasebo on 7 October , she steamed to Okinawa , Hong Kong , and Taiwan before returning to Japan early in November for additional type training that included school ship service out of Yokosuka , Japan . Vietnam Area operations . During the next two years , " Gannet " continued operations out of Sasebo . Mine warfare exercises and training in mine countermeasures sent her to Korea , Okinawa , Taiwan , Hong Kong , and the Philippines . During July and August 1964 she performed special mine countermeasure operations in the South China Sea while supporting U . S . naval operations along the coast of Vietnam . She returned to the South China Sea in February 1965 ; participated in a joint amphibious exercise with ships of the Royal Thai Navy ; then steamed to the Vietnamese coast in mid - April to resume special duty . " Gannet " returned to Sasebo on 24 May 1965 and for more than six months operated along the coast of Japan . Early in December she returned to the coast of Vietnam , where she joined " Operation Market Time " as a coastal surveillance patrol ship . During her patrols she inspected hundreds of Vietnamese fishing boats in an effort to control the infiltration of Viet Cong troops and supplies . In addition , she provided treatment for South Vietnamese fishermen requiring medical aid . She departed Vietnam on 14 January 1966 and returned to Sasebo the 29th . She served along the Japanese coast until 10 April 1966 when she again sailed for South Vietnam , arriving 10 days later to resume " Market Time " patrols . During the remainder of the year , " Gannet " made three patrol and surveillance deployments along the Vietnamese coast . In addition she participated in SEATO minesweeping exercises in the Gulf of Thailand . Mid May 1967 she was relieved from patrol duties and sent up the Mekong river . Tying up at Vinh Long for the night . She crossed the Tien Giang to the Bassac river and operated in the Can Tho area . She was testing the ship ' s sensitive sweep sonar on swimmers - sappers floating the river . The ship ' s crew floated and swam the river to test the viability of identifying swimmers from the rest of flotsam . The swim crew drew sniper fire for several days until a gun ship ( Puff ) was called in to remove the problem . The end of May seen the ship headed up the Bassac , across the Tien Giang and back down the Mekong to Vinh Long and eventually to Vung Tau harbor . Returned to the assigned patrol area . The water in the ship ' s fresh water tanks was muddy for the next several months from the water the ship took on at Binh Thuy . Decommissioning . " Gannet " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1970 . She was decommissioned in Sasebo , Japan in 1970 . After decommissioning , the " Gannet " was dismantled .