There are 567 users online
You can register for a user account here.
Login
Military Photos
Main Menu
Online
Library of Congress
Past Articles
Military Quotes
The starting point for the understanding of war is the understanding of human nature. -- S.L.A. Marshall |
Coastal Mine Hunters - MHC(376 total words in this text)(2673 Reads)  Ships designed to clear mines from vital waterways. Background In the early 1980s, the U.S. Navy began development of a new mine countermeasures (MCM) force, which included two new classes of ships and minesweeping helicopters. The vital importance of a state-of-the-art mine countermeasures force was strongly underscored in the Persian Gulf during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war, and in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991. Osprey (MHC 51) class ships are mine hunter-killers capable of finding, classifying and destroying moored and bottom mines. The MHC 51 has a 15-day endurance and depends on a support ship or shore based facilities for resupply. Avenger class ships are also designed as mine hunter-killers. These ships use sonar and video systems, cable cutters and a mine detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control. They are also capable of conventional sweeping measures. The ships' hulls are made of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) fiberglass. They are the first large mine countermeasures ships built in the United States in nearly 27 years. General Characteristics, Osprey class Builder: MHC 51, 52, 55, 58, 59, 60 and 61 Intermarine USA, Savannah, GA MHC 53, 54, 56, 57 Avondale Industries Inc., Gulfport, MS. Date Deployed: 20 Nov 1993 (USS Osprey) Propulsion: Two diesels (800 hp each); two Voith-Schneider (cycloidal) propulsion systems. Length: 188 feet (57.3 meters). Beam: 36 feet (11 meters). Displacement: 893 tons (907.33 metric tons) full load. Speed: 10 knots (18.4 kmph). Crew: 5 officers, 46 enlisted. Armament: Two .50 caliber machine guns, Mine Neutralization System and other mine countermeasures systems. Ships: USS Osprey (MHC 51), Ingleside, TX USS Heron (MHC 52), Ingleside, TX USS Pelican (MHC 53), Ingleside, TX USS Robin (MHC 54), Ingleside, TX USS Oriole (MHC 55), Ingleside, TX USS Kingfisher (MHC 56), Ingleside, TX USS Cormorant (MHC 57), Ingleside, TX USS Black Hawk (MHC 58), Ingleside, TX USS Falcon (MHC 59), Ingleside, TX USS Cardinal (MHC 60), Manama, Bahrain USS Raven (MHC 61), Manama, Bahrain USS Shrike (MHC 62), Ingleside, TX |
Military History
Forum Posts
This Day in History
1775:
In Massachusetts, British troops march out of Boston on a mission to confiscate the Patriot arsenal at Concord and to capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington. As the British departed, Boston Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on horseback from the city to warn Adams and Hancock and rouse the Patriot minutemen.
1847: U.S. forces defeat Mexicans at Cerro Gordo in one of the bloodiest battle of the war. 1864: At Poison Springs, Arkansas, Confederate soldiers under the command of General Samuel Maxey capture a Union forage train and slaughter black troops escorting the expedition. 1885: The Sino-Japanese war ends. 1943: Traveling in a bomber, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, is shot down by American P-38 fighters. 1983: A suicide bomber kills U.S. Marines at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon. |
