USS Dominant ( AM - 431 ) USS " Dominant " ( AM - 431 ) was an built for the United States Navy . The second ship to be named " Dominant " by the Navy , " AM - 431 " was launched 5 November 1953 by C . Hiltebrant Dry Dock Co . , Kingston , New York ; sponsored by Mrs . Belle S . Hiltebrant ; and commissioned 8 November 1954 , Lieutenant Samuel F . McMurray in command . European deployments . After shakedown training out of Key West , Florida , during which time the ocean minesweepers ' designation was changed to " MSO - 431 " on 7 February 1955 , Dominant reported to her home port , Charleston , South Carolina , 10 November 1955 for duty with Mine Force , Atlantic . Assigned to Mine Division 43 , the minesweeper spent the next four years conducting deployments to Europe for operations and exercises with North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) navies , providing services for the Mine Defense Laboratory in Panama City , Florida , and supporting amphibious and other fleet exercises off the east coast and in the West Indies . " Dominant " first deployed to Europe soon after arriving at Charleston ( 4 January - 11 June 1956 ) and followed that a Mediterranean deployment the next year ( 1 May - 2 October 1957 ) , a northern European deployment that included a cruise to Danish and German ports in the Baltic Sea ( 12 May - 30 September 1958 ) , another Mediterranean deployment ( 27 April - 27 August 1959 ) before returning to her new home port at Little Creek , Virginia . Providing services for BUSHIPS . After her shift to the Norfolk , Virginia , area , " Dominant " reported to Commander , Operational Test and Evaluation Force , to provide towing , recovery and other services for Bureau of Ships projects . These duties were again interspersed with deployments , including the West Indies ( 23 January - 4 May 1961 , 30 October 1961 - 17 January 1962 , 17 June - 25 September 1964 , 4 October - 16 December 1965 ) , the Mediterranean . Cuban Missel Crisis - 22 – 26 October 1962 , While attached to MINDIV 43 the Dominant , along with Dash , Direct and Detector were assigned to the Caribbean to Patrol the Windward Passage in search and boarding of Russian Ships - 12 February 1963 ; 7 February - 16 July 1965 ) as well as amphibious and other fleet operations off South Carolina . The minesweeper also provided contingency services for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) off Bermuda in April 1963 . " Dominant " continued the same pattern of activities through the end of the decade , with one more Mediterranean deployment ( 3 November 1966 - 14 May 1967 ) , an exercise with Colombian and Venezuelan naval forces ( 9 May - 10 June 1968 ) , an additional NATO exercise off Halifax , Nova Scotia ( Exercise Silver Tower 9 – 27 September 1968 ) and an extensive modernization period at the Old Dominion Shipyard at Norfolk starting in early 1969 . Following her refit , Dominant was homeported in Charleston SC along with her entire squadron ( the other " D " ships ) From there , they departed for another European cruise . Port hopping via Halifax Nova Scotia and St . Johns Newfoundland for topping off , she and her squadron sailed unescorted to Campbelltown Scotland . She carried insufficient fuel in her tanks for the crossing so a 2 , 500 gallon fuel bladder was installed on her fantail . The squadron made it with fuel to spare . This was reported to have made US Naval history ; an MSO crossing the Atlantic unescorted . The cruise continued to Denmark where the squadron was engaged in Operation Love Song , a NATO exercise and then on to Germany , Holland , Belgium , France , Spain and into the Mediterranean . They continued in the Med for several months with a maintenance stop in Naples . The squadron recrossed the Atlantic , sailing from the Straits of Gibraltar to Charleston in company with a destroyer tender which had completed her assignment in Naples . Dominant and the " D " squadron arrived in Charleston in early spring of 1971 and was rumored to be taken out of service soon . Assigned as Naval Reserve training ship . After the minesweeper shifted to the newly reorganized Mine Division 23 in April 1971 , " Dominant " changed status again to become a U . S . Naval Reserve Training ( NRT ) ship on 1 July 1971 , joining Mine Squadron 12 with three other minesweepers that same day . Her designation was later changed to a Naval Reserve Force ( NRF ) ship . The minesweeper also changed home port to St . Petersburg , Florida , on 20 August and began training her complement of reserve crews one weekend a month and for two - weeks of annual training . Although reserve training duties generally kept the minesweeper in Florida waters , Dominant occasionally sailed to South Carolina or Virginia for overhaul or for minesweeping exercises and periodically conducted search and rescue sweeps for crashed aircraft or lost helicopters . Home port shift to Perth Amboy . On 1 July 1977 " Dominant " shifted home port again to Perth Amboy , New Jersey , where her crew conducted a cross - deck transfer with minesweeper . The minesweeper operated out of Perth Amboy for the next five years , training local reserve crews and periodically conducting exercises up and down the east coast ( ranging from Rhode Island to South Carolina ) . During one cruise in June 1979 , " Dominant " assisted stricken yacht " That Boat " south of Shinnecock Inlet , Long Island , providing aid to the sinking vessel until the U . S . Coast Guard arrived on the scene . Encounter with a Cuban gunboat . Her next significant deployment took place in early June 1980 , when the minesweeper sailed to the Straits of Florida , whose waters were flooded with Cuban refugees . During her week - long stay ( 5 – 11 June ) " Dominant " rescued refugees from several over - crowded and sinking small craft . At one point the minesweeper was challenged by a Cuban gunboat , which demanded the return of a specific refugee , but " Dominant " refused the demand . Decommissioning . The minesweeper made one more West Indies deployment ( 2 June - 20 July ) before commencing deactivation procedures . " Dominant " decommissioned at Charleston on 1 October 1982 and was struck from the Navy List that same day . She was then sold for scrap to Wayne Hobbs of Huntington Beach , California , on 7 December 1983 .