Navy Live The Official Blog of the U.S. Navy
When our midshipmen take on West Point’s cadets in the 116th Army-Navy Game, the mids will be wearing uniforms that pay homage to seven types of our ships – detailed on seven hand-painted helmets that each player will wear, assigned by position.
As we countdown towards our 14th consecutive victory against Army, we’re sharing how these ships and their Sailors protect and defend America.
So far, we’ve highlighted our submarines (wide receivers); littoral combat ships (running backs), amphibious assault ships (linemen), destroyers (defensive backs), and cruisers (linebackers). Today, we continue with the special teams mine countermeasures ships helmets.
Much like the specific task of the Navy special teams, this small ship has a unique mission of identifying and eliminating mines.
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 when the Avenger (MCM 1) and Guardian (MCM 5) ships conducted MCM operations.
Avenger class ships are designed as mine sweepers/hunter-killers capable of finding, classifying and destroying moored and bottom mines. 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 are of fiberglass sheathed, wooden hull construction.
Learn more in the U.S. Navy Fact File.
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