USS Defender (MCM-2) was an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship in the service of the United States Navy. She entered service in September 1989 and was decommissioned in October 2014.
.jpg) USS Defender (MCM-2) in port Pearl Harbor Hawaii, 2004.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Defender |
| Laid down | 1 December 1983 |
| Launched | 4 April 1987 |
| Commissioned | 30 September 1989 |
| Decommissioned | 1 October 2014 |
| Homeport | Sasebo, Japan |
| Status | In reserve in the Pacific Reserve Fleet as of 2019[1] |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 224 ft (68 m) |
| Beam | 39 ft (12 m) |
| Draft | 15 ft (4.6 m) |
| Propulsion | four Waukasha Motors Co. diesel engines, two controllable reversible pitch propellers, two rudders, two electric light load propulsion motors |
| Speed | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
| Complement | 8 officers, 76 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems | see text |
| Electronic warfare & decoys | see text |
| Armament | six M2HB .50 cal. machine guns, four M240B 7.62mm machine guns, two Mk 19 grenade launchers |
History
editIt was laid down on 1 December 1983 at Marinette Marine Corp., Marinette, Wisconsin; launched on 4 April 1987; and commissioned on 30 September 1989. As of 1 July 2009, she was active in Mine Countermeasures Squadron Seven, U.S. Pacific Fleet, permanently forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan.
Defender was decommissioned at San Diego on 1 October 2014.[2] As of 2019, she is in reserve as a part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.[1]
Systems
editAuxiliary systems: three Waukesha ship service diesel generator sets, one solar gas turbine generator, one omnithruster bow thruster system.
Electronic systems: one AN/SSN-2 Precise Integrated Navigation System (PINS), one AN/SQQ-32 Mine Hunting Sonar, one AN/SPS-55 Surface Radar, one AN/WSN-7 Gyro compass, Mine Countermeasure Equipment Suite, one AN/SLQ-48 (V) Mine Neutralization System, one AN/SQL-37 (V) 3 Magnetic/Acoustic Influence Minesweeping Gear, Oropesa type 0 size 1 Mechanical Sweep Equipment, MDG 1701 Marconi Magnetometer Degaussing System.
Operations
editFor a review of current year-to-year operations of USS Defender), including operations after Hurricane Katrina, see:
- Index for Histories/Command Operations Reports submitted by Defender (MCM 2)
- Mine Warfare Ships Support Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Relief Efforts
- Defender Clears Way for Shipping off Gulf Coast (2005)
References
edit- ^ U.S. Pacific Fleet (October 2014). "141001-N-VO234-037". Flickr. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links
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