Korean War Service
Shoveler was recommissioned on 24 July 1951 and assigned to Mine Squadron 5. After refresher training and fleet exercises off Santa Rosa, California, she entered the yard of the Harbor Boat Co., Long Beach, California, for alterations and repairs on 5 November 1951. When the work was completed on 7 January 1952, the ship moved down the coast of San Diego and acted as a mine warfare schoolship for three months.
On 20 March, Shoveler was ordered to the Far East. After port calls at Pearl Harbor and Guam, and minesweeping exercises in the Bonin Islands, she arrived at Sasebo, Japan, on 20 May. A week later, she got underway for the Korean war zone.
Shoveler arrived at Wonsan Harbor on 28 May to assist the United Nations forces. During the next four and one-half months, the minesweeper operated along the Korean coast from Musu Dan in the north to Kosong in the south. In addition to sweeping mines, she destroyed nine sampans with gunfire and bombarded the coast when afforded the opportunity. On 17 June, she was fired on by an enemy shore battery on Mayang Do but received no hits.
Shoveler returned to Sasebo in mid-October; and, on the 20th, she cleared that port for Long Beach, California. The minesweeper arrived there on 20 November 1952 and, for the next two years, operated along the coast of California as a unit of Mine Division 72.
Shoveler was again deployed to the Far East on 21 October 1954 and operated out of Sasebo, Japan. On 21 November 1954, she commenced a series of patrols along the east coast of Korea. She steamed from Sasebo to Keelung, Taiwan, on 1 February 1955 and five days later departed that port for the Tachen Islands to assist in the evacuation there. The minesweeper swept channels during the days and ran antitorpedo boat patrols during the nights until 14 February when she returned to Sasebo. Shoveler's hull classification was changed from AM-382 to MSF-382 on 7 February. She departed the Far East on 9 May and arrived at Long Beach, California, on 1 June 1955.
Read more about this topic: USS Shoveler (AM-382)
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