USS Advance (MSO-510) - First Deployment To The Far East

First Deployment To The Far East

The minesweeper resumed local operations in the fall of 1959 and continued to be so engaged until late in the summer of 1960. On 31 August of that year, she stood out of Long Beach for her first deployment to the western Pacific Ocean. She made stops at Pearl Harbor and at Midway Island before arriving in Yokosuka, Japan, on 28 September. For a little more than four months, Advance conducted training operations with other ships of the U.S. 7th Fleet as well as with units of the navies of Taiwan and Korea. She also visited various Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Philippine Islands ports. On 11 February 1961, the ship stood out of Subic Bay in the Philippines in company with the other ships of Mine Division (MinDiv) 92 bound for the United States. After stops at Guam, Midway Island, and Pearl Harbor, she arrived back in Long Beach on 25 March. Early the following month, the vessel entered a civilian shipyard at Long Beach for post-deployment repairs. In May, she resumed operations along the west coast with units of the U.S. 1st Fleet.