USS Inaugural ( AM - 242 ) USS " Inaugural " ( AM - 242 ) was an fleet minesweeper . The " Admirable " class was the largest and one of the most successful classes of U . S . minesweepers ordered during World War II . " Inaugural " was launched on 1 October 1944 , and was commissioned on 30 December , with Lieutenant John H . Pace USNR in command . The ship was decommissioned in 1946 and set up as a museum ship in St . Louis , Missouri in 1968 . In the flood of 1993 , " Inaugural " was ripped from her mooring and grounded a mile downstream . As of March 2011 , the hulk was still sitting on the Missouri side of the river . Operations . " Inaugural " was built and launched by the Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company of Winslow , Washington . Following shakedown off the California coast , " Inaugural " sailed on 14 March 1945 for Pearl Harbor , where she arrived eight days later . For the next two months , the minesweeper performed patrol and escort duties between Hawaii and the islands of the western Pacific . She was at Saipan on 22 May and departed that day with a convoy bound for Okinawa , site of the last and largest amphibious operation of the Pacific war . After a voyage enlivened by several attacks on suspected submarine s , the convoy reached Okinawa on 30 May . During the desperate struggle for Okinawa , " Inaugural " patrolled the seas around the island group , often firing at enemy planes as Japan ese aircraft made a suicidal effort to stop American ground forces by destroying their support from the sea . Except for the period 19 through 24 July , when the ship put to sea to ride out the great typhoon , " Inaugural " remained in the dangerous waters around Okinawa until 30 August 1945 . With the war then over , she steamed to the waters around Japan and Korea for minesweeping operations that were a necessary prelude to occupation . She swept the approaches to Jinsen , Korea , in September , and later cleared mines in waters off Nagasaki and Sasebo , Japan . " Inaugural " proceeded to Okinawa where she received needed equipment 14 – 24 October , and then returned to the important minesweeping operations around the Japanese home islands . The veteran minesweeper sailed on 24 December for the United States , via Saipan and Pearl Harbor , and arrived at San Pedro , California , on 7 February 1946 . Sailing again on 11 March , she proceeded to Galveston , Texas , and decommissioned there on 9 September 1946 . She was reclassified MSF - 242 on 7 February 1955 . " Inaugural " entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet , Texas Group , where she remained until struck from the Navy List on 1 March 1967 and sold . " Inaugural " had performed her duties with distinction . By the end of her career , she had cleared eighty - two mines and was awarded two battle star s for service during World War II . Museum ship . In 1968 , " Inaugural " was towed to St . Louis and established as a floating museum . The vessel was designated as a National Historic Landmark on 14 January 1986 , as one of two surviving " Admirable " - class minesweepers used in the Pacific during World War II . On 1 August 1993 , during flooding of the Mississippi River , " Inaugural " broke loose from her moorings at the Gateway Arch . The ship suffered a breach in her hull , took on water , and rolled on her port side . She sank on the Missouri side of the river , half a mile south of the Poplar Street Bridge . She has since remained in that position , partially submerged . Plans to salvage the wreck in one piece and restore it were deemed unfeasible . The ship was determined a total loss . " Inaugural " s Landmark designation was withdrawn on 7 August 2001 , because she had ceased to meet the criteria . As of August 2011 , she is still sitting where she came to rest and can be seen when the river is at or below average level . In January 2013 , the river dropped so low that one may walk up to the ship . Scrapping work was set to begin in January , but river levels rose again . She is still in the same location with a few pieces of metal missing from the start of scrapping .