View source for USS Inaugural

{{short description|Minesweeper of the United States Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}

{{Coord|38.611483|N|90.188101|W|display=title}}
{{Infobox ship
|infobox_caption=USS ''Inaugural'' (AM-242)
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image= USS Inaugural WWII.jpg
 |image_caption= USS ''Inaugural'' (in [[dazzle camouflage]]) during World War II
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |hide_header=
 |country=United States 
 |flag= {{USN flag|1944}}
 |name=
 |ordered=
 |awarded=
 |builder=Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Company
 |original_cost=
 |yard_number=
 |way_number=
 |laid_down=22 May 1944 
 |launched=1 October 1944
 |sponsor=
 |christened=
 |completed= 
 |acquired=
 |commissioned=30 December 1944
 |recommissioned=
 |decommissioned=9 September 1946
 |in_service=
 |out_of_service=
 |renamed=
 |reclassified=MSF-242, 7 February 1955
 |refit=
 |struck=1 March 1967
 |reinstated=
 |homeport=
 |identification=
 |motto= 
 |nickname=
 |honors=
 |captured=
 |fate=*Sold 1968 as a floating museum in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]].
       *Sunk in the [[Great Flood of 1993]].
 |notes=
 |badge=
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |hide_header=
 |header_caption=
 |class={{sclass|Admirable|minesweeper}}
 |type=
 |displacement=530 tons 
 |length={{convert|184|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
 |beam={{convert|33|ft|m|abbr=on}}
 |height=
 |draft={{convert|9|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
 |depth=
 |decks=
 |power=
 |propulsion= 
 |speed={{convert|15|kn|km/h|1}}
 |range=
 |endurance=
 |complement=104 
 |armament=*1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun]]
           *6 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]
           *4 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors 40 mm gun]]s (2×2)
           *2 × Depth [[charge projectors]] (K-guns)
           *2 × Depth charge tracks
 |armor=
 |notes=
 }}

|section4={{Infobox ship/service record
 |header_caption= 
 |partof=*[[United States Pacific Fleet|US Pacific Fleet]] (1944-1946)
         *[[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]] (1946-1967)
 |codes=
 |commanders=
 |operations=[[Battle of Okinawa]]
 |victories=
 |awards=2 [[Battle star]]s
 }}
}}
'''USS ''Inaugural'' (AM-242)''' was an {{sclass|Admirable|minesweeper|0}} fleet [[Minesweeper (ship)|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 commissioned less than three months later. After seeing combat in the Pacific Theater, she was decommissioned in 1946 and spent two decades in mothballs.

In 1968, she was set up as a [[museum ship]] in [[St. Louis]], Missouri. In the [[Great Flood of 1993]], ''Inaugural'' was ripped from her mooring, ran aground, and rolled on her side a mile downstream. As of December 2017, the hulk was still sitting on the Missouri side of the river.<ref name="rft">{{cite news |last=Garrison |first=Chad |title=The Strange, Strange Tale of the U.S.S. Inaugural |work=[[The Riverfront Times]] |date=7 March 2007 |url=http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-strange-strange-tale-of-the-uss-inaugural/Content?oid=2482873}}</ref>  In the autumn of 2021, a historic low level of the Mississippi River allowed the hulk to become visible.<ref>{{cite news | title=Low Mississippi River Water Levels Reveal Sunken WWII Ship | url=https://www.warhistoryonline.com/news/low-mississippi-river-water-levels-reveal-sunken-wwii-ship.html|date=20 October 2021 |access-date=22 October 2021}}</ref>

==Operations==
''Inaugural'' was built and launched by the [[Winslow Marine Railway and Shipbuilding Company]] of [[Winslow, Washington]]. She was commissioned on 30 December 1944.

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 Prefecture|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 Japanese aircraft as they made suicidal efforts to destroy the ships supporting the invasion force. Except for 19–24 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 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, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] and [[Sasebo, Japan]]. ''Inaugural'' proceeded to Okinawa where she received needed equipment from 14 to 24 October, and then returned to minesweeping around the Japanese home islands.

The minesweeper sailed on 24 December for the United States, via Saipan and Pearl Harbor, and arrived at [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|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.

Overall, ''Inaugural'' cleared 82 mines and was awarded two [[battle star]]s for service during World War II.

==Museum ship==
[[Image:USS Inaugural museum.jpg|right|240px|thumb|After decommissioning, USS ''Inaugural'' became a museum at St. Louis]]
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, the other being the USS [[USS_Hazard_(AM-240)|''Hazard'']].

On 1 August 1993, during [[Great Flood of 1993|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. [[Image:USS Inaugural 01AUG2012.jpg|right|240px|thumb|USS ''Inaugural'' in August 2012]] 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,<ref>
{{cite web
|url=http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/withdrawn/inaugural.htm
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20160320050343/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/withdrawn/inaugural.htm
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=20 March 2016
|title=U.S.S. ''Inaugural'' (AM-242)
|work=National Historic Landmarks Program
|publisher=[[National Park Service]]
|access-date=1 September 2015
}}</ref> because she had ceased to meet the criteria. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/uss-inaugural-finally-emerge-her-watery-grave |title=USS Inaugural To Finally Emerge From Her Watery Grave |first=Adam |last=Allington |work=[[St. Louis Public Radio]] |date=8 January 2013 |access-date=19 June 2016}}</ref> As of October 2021, she is still sitting where she came to rest and can be seen when the river is at or below average level.

==See also==
*[[List of U.S. National Historic Landmark ships, shipwrecks, and shipyards]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/i/inaugural.html}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Inaugural (AM-242)}}
*[http://ussinaugural.org/ USS ''Inaugural'' AM-242 – An Online Scrapbook]

{{Admirable-class minesweepers}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inaugural (AM-242)}}
[[Category:Admirable-class minesweepers]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Mississippi River]]
[[Category:Ships built in Winslow, Washington]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:World War II minesweepers of the United States]]
[[Category:Former National Register of Historic Places in Missouri]]
[[Category:Former National Historic Landmarks of the United States]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1968]]
[[Category:1968 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1968 establishments in Missouri]]
[[Category:1993 disestablishments in Missouri]]