USS Waxbill (MHC-50/AMCU-50/AMS-39/YMS-479/PCS-1456) was a YMS-1-class minesweeper of the YMS-446 subclass acquired by the U.S. Navy for the task of removing mines placed in the water to prevent ships from passing.

Laid down as PCS-1456 on 28 April 1943 at Tacoma, Washington, by the Mojean and Ericson Shipbuilding Corp., the ship was reclassified as a motor minesweeper, YMS-479, on 27 September 1943.

She operated in the Hawaiian chain through February 1945, providing local escort services for ships conducting maneuvers and exercises off Maui, Kauai, or Oahu, ranging from attack transports to LSTs.

Departing Pearl Harbor on 20 February in company with USS Sheldrake (AM-62), YMS-479 arrived at San Francisco, California, on 1 March and began preparations for inactivation.

Named USS Waxbill and reclassified as AMS-39 on 18 February 1947 while still in reserve, the minecraft was taken out of "mothballs" on 5 January 1949; and work began to ready her to resume duty.

After stopovers at Pearl Harbor and the Japanese ports of Sasebo and Yokosuka, Japan, Waxbill commenced her tour of Korean War service on 12 May in operation area "S".

During that time, she operated out of Sasebo and, in between deployments to Korean waters, visited such Japanese ports as Kobe, Nagasaki, Yokosuka, Moji, and Fukuoka.