USS Bold ( AM - 424 ) USS " Bold " ( AM - 424 ) was an " Aggressive " - class minesweeper acquired by the U . S . Navy for the task of clearing mines that had been placed in the water to prevent the safe passage of ships . " Bold " was laid down on 12 December 1951 by the Norfolk Naval Shipyard ; launched on 14 March 1953 ; sponsored by Mrs . Porter Hardy , Jr . ; and commissioned on 25 September 1953 , Lt . Douglas C . Pearson in command . Special sea trials . " Bold " did not report for normal duty with the Mine Force for 17 months after her commissioning . Instead , following outfitting at Norfolk , Virginia , and a brief training period in Chesapeake Bay , she began a series of special trials in conjunction with the Bureau of Ships , the Norfolk Naval Shipyard , and the New York Naval Shipyard . Those trials lasted from early October 1953 to early June 1954 . East Coast operations . At the end of the first week in June 1954 , " Bold " finally embarked upon her delayed shakedown cruise that she conducted off the New England coast . At the end of the summer of 1954 , the minesweeper entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for five months of modifications and post - shakedown repairs . On 7 February 1955 near the end of the overhaul , " Bold " was reclassified an ocean minesweeper and redesignated " MSO - 424 " . On 15 February 1955 , after nearly a year and a half of active duty , the warship entered port at the home of the Atlantic Fleet Mine Force , Charleston , South Carolina , for the first time in her career . That spring , after three weeks of intensive training , " Bold " participated in her first annual minesweeping exercise . On 2 May , she stood out of Charleston in company with the other ships of Mine Division ( MinDiv ) 83 to embark on her first deployment to the Mediterranean Sea . She and her division mates arrived in Lisbon , Portugal , on 18 May and , soon thereafter , joined the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean . During the ensuing four months , the minesweeper made port visits and conducted bilateral minesweeping exercises with units of the navies of Italy , Greece , and Spain . " Bold " concluded that tour of duty in the latter part of September and reentered Charleston , South Carolina , on 4 October . After five weeks of the relative inactivity that usually follows a deployment , she steamed south early in November to enter the drydock of a civilian contractor at Jacksonville , Florida . When those repairs were completed in mid - December , " Bold " moved to the Naval Mine Defense Laboratory at Panama City , Florida , where she spent the first five months of 1956 assisting in the development of technology and tactics relative to mine warfare . In June , the minesweeper returned to Charleston where she began a four - month overhaul at the Charleston Naval Shipyard . She completed that repair period in October and embarked upon a schedule of training missions in the local operating area in preparation for deployment to the Mediterranean again in January 1957 . Second Mediterranean cruise . Midway through the first week in January , " Bold " set out across the Atlantic with the other units of MinDiv 83 . She entered the Mediterranean during the last week of the month and began five months of the usual drills , exercises , and port calls associated with a 6th Fleet assignment . She arrived back in Charleston , South Carolina , on 16 June and remained there through the middle of July for the normal post - deployment leave and upkeep period . At that time , the minesweeper sailed north to Yorktown , Virginia , where she served as a training vehicle for the Mine Warfare School and whence she participated in a major Atlantic Fleet mine warfare exercise in the vicinity of the Virginia Capes . " Bold " returned south at the beginning of September , made a brief visit to Charleston , and then continued south to Key West , Florida , where she carried out missions for the Mine Development Detachment located there . She completed that assignment in mid - October and reentered Charleston on the 20th . For the remainder of 1957 , the warship pursued a routine schedule of independent ship ' s exercises out of her home port . Overhaul at Charleston . Normal operations out of Charleston occupied her time during the first quarter of 1958 as well . On 28 March 1958 , however , Bold began an overhaul at the Charleston Naval Shipyard that consumed the next 16 weeks . The minesweeper devoted the balance of the summer to refresher training and preparations for overseas movement . She stood out of Charleston on 29 September and arrived at Gibraltar on 16 October . She made port visits and conducted exercises in the " middle sea " for a little less than four months before heading back to the United States early in 1959 . " Bold " sailed back into her home port on 11 February 1959 and commenced post - deployment standdown . The warship resumed normal activity at the beginning of March . She carried out a special project for the Commander , Mine Force , Atlantic Fleet , between 8 and 10 March and then visited Savannah , Georgia , for St . Patrick ' s Day . Bold spent the first 10 days of April undergoing repairs at a civilian drydock in Charleston and then took up the usual training evolutions in the local operating area once again . She continued so employed through the end of the year and during the first two months of 1960 . Norfolk shipyard overhaul . On 2 March 1960 , the minesweeper entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for regular overhaul . She completed the repairs early in May and returned to Charleston on the 12th . Refresher training and minesweeping drills took up the balance of May and most of June . On 28 June , Bold departed Charleston for a midshipman training cruise to the West Indies that lasted through the summer . She arrived back in Charleston on 13 September but , after two weeks alongside a tender , got underway again on 2 October . The ship steamed north to Canadian waters where she participated in Operation Sweep Clear V . " Bold " returned to Charleston from that exercise on 26 October and resumed the familiar roles of training vehicle and test platform , for the Mine Warfare School and the mine service tests , respectively . Normal duty along the Atlantic seaboard continued into the early months of 1961 . On 10 April 1961 , Bold departed Charleston in company with the rest of MinDiv 83 on her way to another tour of duty with the U . S . 6th Fleet . Over the ensuing six months , she operated as an element of Task Force ( TF ) 62 , conducting exercises and visiting a number of Mediterranean ports . The minesweeper returned to Charleston in October and spent the remainder of 1961 in port preparing for and executing a yard overhaul . " Bold " completed repairs early in February 1962 and devoted the rest of the month and most of March to refresher training . In April , the minesweeper participated in amphibious exercises at Vieques Island , near Puerto Rico , and at Onslow Beach , North Carolina . The month of May brought upkeep in Charleston and , in June , she traveled to Panama City , Florida , where she provided services to the Navy ' s Mine Defense Laboratory . West Indies cruise . On 20 July , after nearly three weeks back at her home port , USS Bold got underway for a four - month cruise to the West Indies . When not engaged in exercises , she made liberty calls at such places as Guantánamo Bay , San Juan , Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic , and Ocho Rios in Jamaica . " Bold " returned to Charleston on 9 November and , following a tender availability , resumed local operations on the 21st . Though occasionally called upon to perform special missions at various locations along the east coast , the minesweeper generally stayed close to her home port for the next 18 months . That employment came to an end late in the spring of 1964 . On 15 May , she stood out of Charleston in company with her division mates for another deployment to the Mediterranean Sea . She made a stop along the way at Bermuda and arrived at Malaga , Spain , on 3 June . " Bold " participated in several amphibious exercises and other training evolutions and visited a number of ports on the shores of the Mediterranean . After about five months of such duty , she departed Huelva , Spain , on 30 October to return to the United States . Arriving back in Charleston on 17 November , Bold spent the remainder of the year in port . Drydock period in Savannah . " Bold " began 1965 with normal operations out of Charleston . Early in February , however , she entered the yard at the Savannah Machine & Foundry for an interim drydock period . The minesweeper completed those repairs at the beginning of March and resumed normal duty at Charleston . At the end of June , " Bold " departed her home port in company with her colleagues of MinDiv 83 and set a course for the Gulf of Mexico , where she occupied the following month carrying out missions in support of the Mine Defense Laboratory at Panama City , Florida . She and her division mates left the Florida panhandle on 1 August and , after making a port call at Veracruz , Mexico , reentered Charleston on the 17th . The minesweeper spent most of what remained of 1965 in port at Charleston preparing for a regular overhaul projected for the beginning of 1966 . The overhaul began on schedule in mid - January , and " Bold " emerged from the Jacksonville Shipyard at Charleston on 19 April . After sea trials , she resumed local operations out of Charleston and remained so occupied until the beginning of August . On 5 August , the minesweeper put to sea for three weeks of special operations near Puerto Rico . She returned to Charleston on 29 August . On 26 September , " Bold " plunged into two months of intensive exercises , three weeks of refresher training followed by another four weeks of type training . That demanding schedule ended with her return to Charleston on 20 November . The warship concluded the year with an extended period of relative inactivity in her home port . Tour of duty with the Sixth Fleet . She began 1967 with type training carried out in cooperation with her colleagues of MinDiv 83 . Between early February and mid - March , the minesweeper underwent repairs at the Jacksonville Shipyard in Charleston in preparation for another tour of duty with the 6th Fleet . " Bold " embarked upon that deployment on 30 March . She and her division mates arrived at Gibraltar on 16 April and became elements of Task Unit ( TU ) 61 . 7 . 3 . For almost five months the minesweeper ranged the length and breadth of the Mediterranean Sea , participating in a variety of exercises both multinational and unilateral in character . When not so engaged , the warship made liberty calls and goodwill visits to ports throughout the Mediterranean . Following turnover formalities at Rota , Spain , Bold headed back to the United States on 2 September . She returned to Charleston on the 16th and stood down for about a month to allow her crew ample opportunity to take post - deployment leave . " Bold " resumed local operations late in October but did not really accelerate to a normal pace until the beginning of 1968 when she began service as a training platform for the Mine Warfare School . She alternated duty as a school ship with periods of type training and independent ship ' s exercises during the first four months of 1968 . On 6 May , the minesweeper entered Detyen ' s Shipyard at Mt . Pleasant , South Carolina , for an 11 - week overhaul . " Bold " left the yard on 22 July and took up normal operations at the end of the month . Early in October while carrying out a mission in support of the Naval Ordnance Laboratory Test Facility at Fort Lauderdale , Florida , she suffered damage to her main propulsion plant that put her in the Jacksonville Shipyard for two months . " Bold " returned to active service in December just in time to put to sea with USS Bulwark ( MSO - 425 ) on the 20th to search for an aircraft that had gone down at sea off the Virginia Capes . The search proved unsuccessful , and she returned to Charleston late Christmas Eve . The minesweeper began 1969 with refresher training out of her home port . In February , she assisted Atlantic Fleet destroyers in quality assurance testing on their weapons systems . Type training conducted along the coasts of South Carolina and Florida occupied the month of March . On 1 May , " Bold " departed Charleston with MinDiv 83 bound for a month of exercises in the Caribbean Sea codenamed Operation Halcon Vista IV . Upon her return to Charleston at the beginning of June , she resumed local operations . During the fall , she underwent an interim drydocking at the Jacksonville Shipyard and participated in quality assurance testing on weapons for Atlantic Fleet destroyers once again . Decommissioning . In January 1970 , " Bold " embarked upon her final year of active service with the U . S . Navy . In those last 12 months , the minesweeper carried out normal operations along the southern portion of the Atlantic seaboard . In January 1971 , she began preparations for inactivation . " Bold " was decommissioned at Charleston on 2 July 1971 , and she remained there , in reserve , until early in 1975 . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 28 February 1975 , and she was sold to Tucson One Hour , Inc . , of Cincinnati , Ohio , in June 1981 .