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USS Avenger (MCM 1)

- Naval Reserve Force -
- decommissioned -


USS AVENGER was the lead ship of the AVENGER - class of mine countermeasures ships. Decommissioned on September 30, 2014, the AVENGER was sold for scrapping to Marine Group Boat Works of San Diego, Calif., on November 3, 2014.

General Characteristics:Keel Laid: May 2, 1983
Launched: June 15, 1985
Commissioned: September 12, 1987
Decommissioned: September 30, 2014
Builder: Peterson Shipbuilders, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
Propulsion System: four diesels
Propellers: two
Length: 224 feet (68.28 meters)
Beam: 39 feet (11.89 meters)
Draft: 11,5 feet (3.5 meters)
Displacement: 1,312 tons
Speed: 14 knots
Armament: Mine neutralization system, two .50 caliber machine guns
Crew: 8 Officers, 76 Enlisted


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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS AVENGER. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.


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USS AVENGER Cruise Books:


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Some Details:



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History of USS AVENGER:

USS AVENGER’s keel was laid down on May 2, 1983 by Peterson Shipbuilders, Sturgeon Bay, Wis. After launching on June 15, 1985 the commissioning ceremony took place on September 12, 1987. During Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, USS AVENGER and USS GUARDIAN (MCM 5) conducted MCM operations.

The minesweepers USS IMPERVIOUS (MSO 449), USS ADROIT (MSO 509), USS LEADER (MSO 490), and the MCM ship USS AVENGER arrived in the theater 30 September 1990, on the Dutch heavy-lift ship SUPER SERVANT III.
While sweeping toward the shore of Faylaka Island on 17 February 1991, the MCM force (including USS AVENGER) was targeted by Iraqi Silkworm antiship missile fire control radars in Kuwait. The ships moved out of the missile's range while Coalition forces located and attacked the radar site. With the Silkworm missile threat diminished, the MCM forces began to move back to the previous minesweeping areas at 0240 on 18 February. At 0435, after operating for 11 hours in an undetected Iraqi minefield, USS TRIPOLI hit a moored contact mine in 30 meters of water. The explosion ripped a 16 foot by 20 foot hole below the water line. As USS AVENGER and USS LEADER attempted to assist the damaged warship, USS PRINCETON (CG 59), while unknowingly heading along a line of Manta mines, continued to provide air defense for the MCM Group. At 0715, USS PRINCETON actuated a Manta mine in 16 meters of water. A sympathetic actuation of another mine about 350 yards from USS PRINCETON occurred about three seconds later. These mine blasts caused substantial damage to USS PRINCETON, including a cracked superstructure, severe deck buckling, and a damaged propeller shaft and rudder. As damage control teams overcame fires and flooding aboard USS TRIPOLI and USS PRINCETON, the minesweepers USS IMPERVIOUS, USS LEADER, and USS AVENGER searched for additional mines in the area. The minesweeper USS ADROIT led the salvage ship USS BEAUFORT (ATS 2) toward USS PRINCETON; USS BEAUFORT then towed the damaged warship to safety.

During the minesweeping in the Persian Gulf, USS AVENGER used the AN/SQQ-32 MCM sonar, a sophisticated mine-hunting sonar, to detect moored and bottom mines in shallow or deep waters. USS AVENGER then used the AN/SLQ-48 mine neutralization system (MNS) to locate, examine, and destroy the detected mines. The MNS consists of a remotely piloted submersible vehicle equipped with sonar and two television cameras for locating mines, explosives for neutralizing mines, and cable cutters for cutting the mooring so the mine floats to the surface for destruction. The other US minesweepers used the AN/SQQ-14 MCM sonar to detect bottom and moored mines and mechanical minesweeping gear to cut mine cables.

In FY 1996 AVENGER was one of the four ships of that class which transitioned to the Reserve.


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