Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, December 20, 1993                   TAG: 9312200093
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NORFOLK                                LENGTH: Short

NAVY RETIRES LAST OF A CLASS

The Exploit, commissioned in March 1954, sailed on five extended deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and helped in the recoveries of three spacecraft.

Adm. Henry H. Mauz Jr., commander of the Atlantic Fleet, paid tribute to the vessel last week at its decommissioning at the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base.

Mauz said the laying of mines by North Korea in 1950 gave rise to the Exploit.

Such threats continue today, Mauz said, particularly in the Middle East. Two American warships were damaged by mines during the Persian Gulf War.

The 853-ton Exploit carried a crew of about 80. - Associated Press