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USS Heron (MHC 52)

USS HERON was the second ship in the OSPREY - class of coastal mine hunters and the third U.S. Navy vessel to bear the name. Delivered to the Navy on July 22, 1994, and commissioned on August 6, 1994, the HERON was transfered to the Naval Reserve Force on July 15, 1995, and was subsequently used to train naval reservists. Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on March 16, 2007, the HERON was transfered to the Hellenic Navy the same day. There she was recommissioned as KALIPSO.

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Crew List:

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

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USS HERON History:

The construction contract for USS HERON was awarded on February 17, 1989, and her keel was laid at Intermarine USA in Savannah, Georgia, on October 11, 1989. HERON was launched and christened at Savannah on March 21, 1992. Mrs. Leonard McRoskey, wife of a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Reserve Affairs, served as sponsor. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Navy, Intermarine and the Italian organizations associated with the technology-transfer program, as well as Georgia Senator Wyche Fowler and Italian Ambassador Boris Biancheri. Fitting out, installation of equipment and testing continued for more than two years. HERON was delivered to the Navy on July 22, 1994.

USS HERON was commissioned at Savannah on August 6, 1994, with Commander Daniel I. Gallagher as her first commanding officer. Two days later, on August 8, an exemption concerning the arrangement of certain navigation lights became effective under the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea. Because of HERON's specialized configuration, complete compliance with requirements governing the positioning of lights displayed by a vessel engaged in mine-clearance operations was considered impracticable. The regulatory amendment documenting the exemption was subsequently published on October 20.

Following commissioning, HERON entered the normal sequence of initial training, testing, acceptance work and preparations associated with bringing a newly constructed warship into fleet service. She eventually proceeded to the Texas Gulf Coast and arrived at Naval Station Ingleside on December 12, 1994. HERON was the first OSPREY-class coastal minehunter to be permanently based at Ingleside. The relatively new installation near Corpus Christi was becoming the principal U.S. Navy concentration point for surface mine warfare units, bringing together AVENGER-class mine countermeasures ships, OSPREY-class minehunters and the associated command, maintenance and training organizations.

On July 15, 1995, HERON transferred to the Naval Reserve Force. She remained a commissioned U.S. Navy vessel but operated under an organization combining active-duty personnel with naval reservists. The arrangement allowed the Navy to retain specialized mine countermeasures ships in operational service while simultaneously using them for reserve training.

HERON's activities during 1996 included multinational mine-warfare training on the U.S. East Coast. By March 22, 1996, the ship was at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, participating in exercise Unified Spirit '96. The exercise brought together naval units from the United States, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada and Denmark and provided an environment in which mine-warfare units could operate as part of a larger multinational force. Other documented U.S. Navy ships at Mayport during the exercise included USS PETERSON (DD 969), USS THOMAS S. GATES (CG 51) and USS NICHOLSON (DD 982), while explosive ordnance disposal, mobile inshore undersea warfare and coastal warfare organizations also participated.

Commander Gallagher remained in command until April 7, 1996, when Lieutenant Commander Robert Douglas Fink relieved him. A significant shipboard incident occurred on June 8 when a fire broke out aboard HERON. A Rescue and Assist Team from USS DEFENDER (MCM 2), which was then undergoing work at Gulf Copper, responded to assist HERON.

The mine-warfare organization at Ingleside expanded substantially during the summer of 1996. USS INCHON (MCS 12), converted from an amphibious assault ship into a dedicated mine countermeasures command and support ship, arrived at Ingleside on July 20. The converted ship provided command-and-control facilities, support for mine warfare staffs and facilities for operating MH-53E Sea Dragon airborne mine-countermeasures helicopters. HERON consequently operated within an increasingly integrated force combining surface minehunters, AVENGER-class ships, helicopters and explosive ordnance disposal detachments.

HERON began 1997 with Gulf of Mexico Exercise 97-1, conducted from January 16-26. Participating surface ships included HERON, USS INCHON, USS SCOUT (MCM 8), USS AVENGER (MCM 1) and USS BLACK HAWK (MHC 58). The exercise was one of the Navy's recurring integrated mine countermeasures events and took place under difficult Gulf Coast weather conditions that included extensive fog. HERON remained at Ingleside after the exercise while several other participating ships subsequently prepared for European mine-warfare commitments.

Another significant deployment and exercise followed later in the year. From August 18-September 4, 1997, HERON participated in Joint Task Force Exercise 97-3 as part of an integrated mine countermeasures force that also included USS SENTRY (MCM 3) and USS ORIOLE (MHC 55), together with USS CHAMPION (MCM 4). The mine-warfare force conducted exploratory minehunting and environmental assessment in an outer sea-echelon area before progressing to airborne mine-countermeasures contact reacquisition and prosecution and clearance minehunting in designated transit, fire-support and inner operating areas. Explosive ordnance disposal personnel were incorporated into the mine-neutralization phase.

Navy unit-award records credited HERON with Navy "E" Ribbon periods covering 1996 and 1997. Lieutenant Commander Fink remained commanding officer until January 23, 1998, when Commander Peter Lyle Stitt assumed command.

From April 13-24, 1998, HERON participated in Pacific Joint Task Force Exercise 98-1 with USS OSPREY (MHC 51), USS KINGFISHER (MHC 56) and USS FALCON (MHC 59). The coastal minehunters were tasked with mine-warfare operations intended to support a considerably larger naval and amphibious force. Their assignments included clearing designated Q-routes, amphibious staging areas and boat lanes in support of operations involving forces centered on USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) and USS ESSEX (LHD 2). The minehunters exchanged mine-warfare information through the Joint Maritime Command Information System, allowing their specialized survey and mine-contact information to be integrated into the broader tactical picture. The exercise included joint and multinational forces operating off Southern California and an amphibious landing at Camp Pendleton on April 21.

From May 6-15, HERON again operated with USS OSPREY, USS KINGFISHER and USS FALCON during a squadron exercise. Explosive ordnance disposal detachments from EOD Mobile Units 3, 6 and 11 participated, enabling the ships to practice coordinated detection, classification and neutralization of mine contacts while integrating surface minehunting with diver-based explosive ordnance disposal procedures.

During the summer of 1998, HERON and USS KINGFISHER were also used in a trial of a proposed "shared asset" personnel concept. The two ships were nested together and their crews combined for in-port duty purposes, increasing the number of available duty sections from the customary three or four to eight. The experiment was intended to examine whether compatible mine-warfare ships could share selected personnel functions and thereby reduce the frequency of in-port duty for individual sailors. The trial was placed on hold in August following implementation of Threat Condition Alpha, although the mine force subsequently continued to examine rotational and shared-crewing concepts.

From July 7-17, 1998, HERON participated in Gulf of Mexico Exercise 98-2. The surface mine-warfare force included USS OSPREY, USS KINGFISHER, USS FALCON, USS PELICAN (MHC 53), USS CORMORANT (MHC 57), USS CHIEF (MCM 14) and USS GLADIATOR (MCM 11). Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 and explosive ordnance disposal detachments from EOD Mobile Units 3, 6 and 11 provided airborne and underwater elements. Exercise scenarios included conventional mine detection and neutralization as well as responses to simulated small-boat attacks, small-unit amphibious activity and terrorist threats against ships in the Corpus Christi area. Representatives of the Royal Australian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy observed portions of the training.

On September 28, 1998, HERON joined USS OSPREY, USS PELICAN, USS KINGFISHER, USS FALCON and USS CORMORANT for a fleet exercise involving the USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) battle group. The exercise continued into early October. The minehunters again used geotranslated Joint Maritime Command Information System data to integrate their mine-warfare operations with the larger fleet force.

Only a few days later, on October 7, HERON departed with the same group of OSPREY-class minehunters for an approximately six-week Caribbean deployment. USS OSPREY served as task group commander. The group first proceeded to Beaumont, Texas, where it remained from October 8-11 in connection with Navy Days. It subsequently called at Cozumel, Mexico, from October 17-19 and reached Montego Bay, Jamaica, on October 23.

The deployment coincided with the development of Hurricane Mitch. The storm intensified rapidly in the western Caribbean and eventually became one of the most destructive Atlantic hurricanes of the decade. The minehunters continued east and sought shelter at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where HERON and the other ships were present around October 27-30 while the hurricane produced extreme conditions in the region. The group then continued to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, remaining there from November 2-5, and later called at Key West from November 12-15. HERON returned to Ingleside with the group on November 19. The deployment was an operational and training cruise.

HERON began 1999 at Ingleside during the holiday stand-down before entering another demanding sequence of inspections, maintenance and training. January activities included Command Assessment of Readiness and Training Phase I, an Intermediate Maintenance Availability, Electronic Key Management System testing and physical-readiness testing. During an underway period in the Corpus Christi operating area in February 1999, HERON suffered a Class B fire in the No. 1 main propulsion diesel engine. The ship returned to Ingleside, where the engine was inspected. Work during the month also included an alteration to the AN/SLQ-48 mine-neutralization vehicle system and underwater hull cleaning. From February 22-March 5, HERON underwent a Restricted Maintenance Availability at Ingleside.

March included an intelligence-assistance visit by Mine Countermeasures Squadron One, ammunition offload, administrative work associated with navigation certification and a command personnel inspection. HERON subsequently returned to the Corpus Christi operating area for mine-countermeasures training, conducted a dependents' day cruise and completed an underway navigation-certification check ride.

On April 5, 1999, HERON began Planned Maintenance Availability 99, which continued through June 9. Part of the availability was conducted by South Texas Ship Repair at Aransas Pass. The maintenance and work-up period incorporated an Intermediate Maintenance Availability, establishment of baseline machinery operating parameters, seamanship-team training, pre-light-off training and a safety survey as the ship prepared to return to operation. The lengthy availability occupied much of the spring and was followed by additional material and readiness work during the summer.

Commander Stitt remained in command until August 27, 1999, when Lieutenant Commander Anthony Lloyd Krueger relieved him. HERON was also among the OSPREY-class ships employing the Integrated Condition Assessment System, which collected machinery information to assist troubleshooting and condition-based maintenance.

On October 5, 1999, HERON proceeded toward Beaumont with USS OSPREY, USS PELICAN, USS KINGFISHER, USS CORMORANT and USS FALCON. The ships participated in Navy Days activities during a period that coincided with observances of the U.S. Navy's 224th anniversary. HERON subsequently returned to her regular readiness and maintenance program at Ingleside.

The operational tempo increased again during 2000. On May 2, HERON became part of the force assigned to Squadron Exercise 00-1. USS PELICAN served as Commander Task Unit 21.1.1 and was responsible for mine-warfare planning and operations involving HERON and USS CHAMPION. The task unit operated under Mine Countermeasures Squadron One. The exercise was conducted in the northern Gulf of Mexico and Panama City operating areas and included a simulated mine-threat environment extending between the Pascagoula and Panama City areas. The scenario treated these areas as representations of Chinhae and Pusan, Korea, allowing the participating ships to practice port breakout, port entry and clearance of Q-routes for larger vessels. The task unit cleared extensive simulated transit areas during approximately a week of mine-warfare operations.

In July 2000, HERON assumed a greater command role during Gulf of Mexico Exercise/Mercury 2000 in the Corpus Christi operating area. USS PELICAN operated as a member of the task unit under HERON. The wider exercise brought together surface mine countermeasures vessels, airborne mine-warfare forces and explosive ordnance disposal personnel and included bilateral training with Singapore. The event formed part of the process used to certify mine-warfare units for more complex operations and deployment.

A longer East Coast deployment followed in September. HERON joined USS OSPREY, USS PELICAN, USS FALCON, USS CHAMPION and USS PIONEER as elements of Mine Warfare Readiness Group 2. The ships began their deployment in connection with Navy Days at Beaumont in mid-September. Weather soon affected the movement of individual units. USS CHAMPION and HERON were ordered back to Beaumont for weather avoidance from September 21-23. On September 24, the two ships resumed their eastward transit toward Key West.

By September 29, HERON and USS CHAMPION were at Key West. While refueling, both ships were ordered to remain there because of adverse weather and did not resume their movement until after October 2. This differed from the itinerary followed by some of the other ships in the readiness group.

After reaching the southeastern United States, HERON prepared for Unified Spirit 2000 and Joint Task Force Exercise 01-1. The major multinational training event began during October and brought the mine-warfare units into operations associated with a larger force that included the USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) battle group. Within the mine-warfare organization, USS PELICAN served as Commander Task Unit 405.6.2 and exercised operational control over HERON, USS CHAMPION, an EOD Mobile Unit 6 detachment and the Canadian mine-warfare ships HMCS MONCTON and HMCS GOOSE BAY. The task unit was assigned exploratory and clearance mine-warfare operations covering more than 175 square miles in the Virginia Capes operating area. Unified Spirit placed American and Canadian mine countermeasures forces within the broader joint and NATO exercise structure and required the participating ships to coordinate their specialized minehunting activities with fleet-level operations.

The mine-warfare group subsequently operated from Norfolk, Virginia. During November, the deployment organization was divided into two smaller task units for further operations and port visits. USS OSPREY led one group containing USS PIONEER and USS FALCON, while HERON led a second group consisting of USS PELICAN and USS CHAMPION. HERON, USS PELICAN and USS CHAMPION departed the Norfolk area on November 13, 2000, and transited Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis, Maryland. They reached the U.S. Naval Academy area on November 14 and moored at the academy sailing center. Their location allowed midshipmen direct access to the ships for tours and mine-warfare instruction. The ships remained at Annapolis until November 20.

After departing Annapolis, the three vessels proceeded through the upper Chesapeake Bay and Chesapeake and Delaware Canal toward New York. They entered New York Harbor on November 21. The visit extended through November 23 and coincided with the Thanksgiving period and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. HERON, USS PELICAN and USS CHAMPION departed New York on November 24 intending to continue south.

Bad weather again altered the schedule. On November 25, the three ships were diverted to Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia, rather than continuing directly south. They remained there during the weather delay and resumed the southbound transit after conditions improved. The readiness group ultimately returned to Ingleside in December, completing an extended deployment that had combined fleet-level exercises, multinational mine warfare, training off the U.S. East Coast and a series of operational and public port visits.

Lieutenant Commander Mark Alan Becker relieved Lieutenant Commander Krueger as commanding officer on January 19, 2001. Earlier that month, HERON had participated in a major Gulf of Mexico Exercise conducted from January 9-19. More than 1,700 personnel participated. Mine Countermeasures Squadron One directed the exercise from USS INCHON. Surface participants included USS OSPREY, HERON, USS PELICAN, USS FALCON, USS AVENGER, USS CHAMPION, USS DEVASTATOR (MCM 6), USS SCOUT, USS PIONEER, USS WARRIOR (MCM 10), USS GLADIATOR and USS CHIEF. USNS SATURN (T-AFS 10), operated by the Military Sealift Command, provided logistics support. Helicopters and multiple explosive ordnance disposal detachments added airborne and underwater mine-countermeasures elements. The exercise was intended to integrate the surface, air and EOD components of the mine-warfare force under a common tactical command.

A particularly well-documented HERON training period began several weeks after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The attacks had resulted in elevated security conditions throughout the U.S. military and initiated the wider American counterterrorism campaign. On October 5, HERON departed Ingleside with USS CHAMPION for approximately six weeks of coordinated two-ship training. The two ships combined scheduled commanding-officer training periods in order to conduct a more intensive sequence of mine-warfare and readiness evolutions.

From October 5-8, HERON and USS CHAMPION transited toward Naval Station Pascagoula. What had originally been planned as a brief stop was extended because of deteriorating weather, and the ships remained in the Pascagoula area through October 14. During the delay, they made use of maintenance and technical support facilities for repairs and preparation for the forthcoming training.

HERON and USS CHAMPION departed Pascagoula on October 15 for the Panama City operating area, where they conducted minehunting and type training. They returned to Pascagoula on October 18. Additional work and preparation followed before another period at sea. On October 29, the two ships again departed toward the Panama City operating area to continue their type training. USS CHAMPION subsequently suffered an engineering casualty and returned to port while HERON continued to the operating area. After repairs were completed, coordinated operations resumed from November 5-8. During the training period, the ships accumulated substantial minehunting time and also performed mine-warfare tasking associated with the Navy's heightened homeland-defense posture.

On November 9, 2001, HERON and USS CHAMPION arrived at Naval Air Station Pensacola. The ships prepared there for Command Assessment of Readiness and Training Phase II, and Atlantic Fleet training observers embarked. On November 12, both vessels returned to sea. From November 12-17 they conducted a concentrated series of assessments in the Panama City operating area, including minehunting, material evaluations, shiphandling and other readiness events. Because the number of training observers was limited, personnel were transferred between HERON and USS CHAMPION as required to permit the necessary evolutions to be evaluated. Both ships returned to Naval Station Ingleside on November 17 and moored alongside one another, completing the six-week joint training period.

Lieutenant Commander Becker remained commanding officer through much of 2002. Lieutenant Commander Robert M. Gordon assumed command on September 27, 2002. During 2003, HERON underwent a Phased Maintenance Availability. The ship continued through readiness and maintenance activity during 2004. Lieutenant Commander Gordon remained commanding officer until July 16, when Lieutenant Commander James Robert Midkiff relieved him. Midkiff's period in command was brief. Lieutenant Commander Thomas Patrick Hollingshead assumed command on August 15, and Lieutenant Commander Eric Crawford Cash became commanding officer on November 1.

Navy budget and maintenance planning for fiscal year 2005 included further work on HERON as the service began preparing to reduce the OSPREY-class force. At the same time, plans were developing to transfer selected coastal minehunters to allied navies. On December 20, 2005, U.S. legislation authorized the transfer by sale of HERON to the Government of Greece. USS PELICAN was also authorized for transfer to Greece under the broader ship-transfer program. Although earlier Navy planning had anticipated HERON leaving U.S. service during fiscal year 2006, the actual schedule was subsequently extended into 2007.

Lieutenant Commander Cash remained in command until March 15, 2006, when Lieutenant Commander Andrew Forrest Carlson assumed command. Carlson led the rotational coastal-minehunter Crew Endurance, an organization that operated aboard several OSPREY-class hulls rather than remaining permanently attached to one ship. Crew Endurance served aboard HERON as well as USS CARDINAL (MHC 60) and USS CORMORANT during the rotational-crewing period. This represented a further development of the alternative personnel concepts that the mine-warfare community had experimented with since the late 1990s.

HERON's principal documented operational deployment of 2006 was participation in PANAMAX 06. HERON deployed from Ingleside together with USS WARRIOR for approximately five weeks of mine-countermeasures operations associated with the multinational exercise off Panama. PANAMAX had begun several years earlier as an exercise focused on protection of the Panama Canal and by 2006 involved eighteen nations, nearly thirty ships, approximately twenty aircraft and more than 4,000 personnel.

The Panama Canal constituted a strategically important international maritime route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and carrying a significant share of global maritime commerce. PANAMAX 06 therefore centered on multinational procedures for protecting canal infrastructure and commercial shipping against terrorism, mining and other asymmetric threats. The exercise took place within the broader post-September 11 emphasis on security of major maritime chokepoints and critical infrastructure.

The principal exercise phase ran from August 24-30, 2006. USS KEARSARGE (LHD 3) served as a major command-and-control platform for the multinational force. Other documented U.S. Navy participants included USS CARNEY (DDG 64), USS HALYBURTON (FFG 40), USS BLACK HAWK, USS WARRIOR and USS SHRIKE (MHC 62). Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadrons 14 and 15 contributed airborne mine-warfare capabilities. HERON's role centered on the mine-countermeasures component, which was responsible for procedures intended to preserve safe maritime access in a scenario involving possible mining of canal approaches or shipping routes.

HERON and USS WARRIOR returned to Naval Station Ingleside on September 13, 2006, after approximately five weeks away from homeport. Lieutenant Commander Carlson was still commanding HERON Crew Endurance upon the ship's return. PANAMAX 06 became the last major operational deployment of HERON that can be clearly documented before her withdrawal from U.S. Navy service. During the remaining months of 2006, the ship moved increasingly toward preparation for decommissioning and transfer. Congress had already authorized her sale to Greece, while Navy force-structure planning was progressively removing the OSPREY-class coastal minehunters from U.S. service.

On January 10, 2007, Lieutenant Commander Shanti Rae Sethi relieved Lieutenant Commander Carlson and became HERON's final U.S. Navy commanding officer. Her period in command was brief because the ship's transfer was already scheduled. USS HERON was formally decommissioned at Naval Station Ingleside on March 16, 2007, after twelve years and seven months in commissioned U.S. Navy service. USS PELICAN was decommissioned at Ingleside on the same day. The two ships were then transferred to the Hellenic Navy in the first formal transfer of U.S. naval vessels to another nation conducted at the South Texas base. Representatives of the U.S. and Hellenic navies signed the transfer documents after the decommissioning ceremonies. HERON was also removed from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register on March 16.

The former HERON entered Hellenic Navy ownership as the minehunter HS KALYPSO (M 64). Together with the former USS PELICAN, which entered Greek service separately, the ship continued the specialist minehunting role for which the OSPREY-class had originally been designed.

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