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All the United States Missouri St. Louis USS Inaugural (1993-2013)
USS Inaugural (1993-2013) is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

USS Inaugural (1993-2013)

A floating museum that was sunk by a flood and left to rot in the tides.

St. Louis, Missouri

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musicman
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An inglorious end to a once-proud ship.   musicman / Atlas Obscura User
Closeup of graffiti on the rotting hull.   musicman / Atlas Obscura User
USS Inaugural   musicman / Atlas Obscura User
USS Inaugural in the winter.   musicman / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Here lies the USS Inaugural, an Admirable-class World War II minesweeper.

After seeing World War II action in Okinawa, she was decommissioned and sent to St. Louis to be a floating museum. Alas, the great flood of 1993 ripped her from the moorings on the riverbanks of the Mississippi River, she floated downstream and sank about a half-mile south of the Arch on the Missouri side of the river.

Normally underwater with just a couple of feet in view, the ship was revealed when dry weather in 2012 led to abnormally low water levels and the ship was nearly entirely on dry ground. Sometimes you could see the bow sticking out of the water, sometimes you could wade through about two feet of water to get to the ship, and rarely could you walk across and stay dry the entire way.

Sadly, in January of 2013, the ship (still mostly out of the water) was sold for scrap metal, bringing yet another inglorious epilogue to a piece of our history. 

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Ruins Military History Boats Water Military

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Added By

musicman

Edited By

Martin, straav

  • Martin
  • straav

Published

September 17, 2012

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Sources
  • https://www.seeaghost.com/single-post/2018/04/17/the-forgotten-shipwrecks-of-the-st-louis-riverfront
  • http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/uss-inaugural-finally-emerge-her-watery-grave
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Inaugural_(AM-242)
USS Inaugural (1993-2013)
St. Louis, Missouri, 63104
United States
38.611492, -90.188098

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