USS Dour (AM-223)

Dour was launched 25 March 1944 by American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio; sponsored by Mrs. W. R. Douglas; and commissioned 4 November 1944. Dour arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, 26 November from the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. She served in the Local Defense Force, until 1 February 1945 when she got underway for Norfolk, Virginia.

Dour sailed from Norfolk 9 March 1945 for the Pacific. She called at San Diego, California, Pearl Harbor, and Saipan and arrived at Okinawa 26 May escorting a convoy of landing craft. After patrolling off Okinawa and Ie Shima, on 23 July she joined in minesweeping coordinated with the U.S. 3rd Fleet strikes on Japan.

Engaged in postwar sweeping operations Dour swept for mines in the Yellow Sea and off Jinsen, Korea. On 9 September she arrived at Sasebo, Japan, and swept Japanese waters until 28 December when she sailed for the west coast, arriving at San Pedro, California, 7 February 1946. Dour received three battle stars for World War II service.

On 8 April she got underway for Algiers, Louisiana, where she remained from 26 April to 2 May. She served ships in reserve at Orange, Texas, until placed out of commission in reserve there 15 March 1947. While she remained in reserve, Dour was reclassified MSF-223 on 7 February 1955. She was struck from the Naval Register on 1 May 1962 and transferred to Mexico on 1 October 1962.

The former Dour was acquired by the Mexican Navy in October 1962 and renamed ARM DM-16. She was stricken from Mexican Navy service in 1986,[1] but her ultimate fate is not reported in secondary sources.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Photo gallery of Dour at NavSource Naval History