First Mediterranean Cruise
On 1 July 1959, Assurance was transferred to MinDiv 81; and her home port was changed to Panama City, Florida. Her primary mission then changed to service as a test platform for the Mine Defense Laboratory located there. She operated in the Panama City area until 9 February 1962, when she sailed for the Mediterranean and visited ports in Sicily, Greece, Crete, Italy, Spain, and France. She carried out several minesweeping operations before getting underway on 6 August to return to Panama City. Upon her arrival home on 24 August, the minesweeper resumed her schedule of local operations.
Late in 1963, the ship varied this routine with a deployment to the Caribbean. While in the West Indies, she took part in amphibious landing exercises off Vieques, Puerto Rico. She returned to Panama City in February 1964 and resumed her service with the Mine Defense Laboratory. In May, she got underway to sail via Key West, Florida, to Charleston, South Carolina, for repairs in drydock. She returned to Panama City in June.
Read more about this topic: USS Assurance (MSO-521)
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