USS Vigor (AM-473/MSO-473) was an Agile-class minesweeper acquired by the U.S. Navy for the dangerous task of removing mines from minefields laid in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Minesweeper refresher training at Charleston, South Carolina, followed, and Vigor then began a tour of duty with the Naval Ordnance Laboratory at Port Everglades, Florida.

During her cruise to the West Indies, Vigor made port calls at San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Fredricksted, St. Croix, in the Virgin Islands.

During that cruise, she visited Harwich, England; Ostend, Belgium; and Lisbon, Portugal, as well as touching at the usual U.S. 6th Fleet ports of call along the Mediterranean coast.

Vigor continued that duty until the latter part of 1957, when she was reassigned to the Naval Mine Defense Laboratory at Panama City, Florida.