USS Ardent (MCM-12)

Last updated

USS Ardent MCM-12.jpg
USS Ardent at sea in the Persian Gulf, July 2005
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameArdent
Ordered12 December 1989
Laid down22 October 1990
Launched16 November 1991
Christened20 August 1993
Commissioned18 February 1994
Decommissioned27 August 2020
Homeport San Diego, California
StatusDecommissioned
Badge USS Ardent MCM-12 Crest.png
General characteristics
Class and type Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship
Displacement1,312 tons
Length224 ft (68 m)
Beam39 ft (12 m)
Draft11.5 ft (3.5 m)
Propulsionfour diesels
Speed14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement8 Officers, 6 Chief Petty Officers and 58 Enlisted
ArmamentMine neutralization system, two .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns
AN/SLQ-48 MNS (Mine Neutralization System) in use aboard Ardent. This remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) is controlled through an umbilical cable, has low acoustic and magnetic signature, and is equipped with low-light television (LLTV) cameras, allowing it to get close to mines to place destructive charges or cut their mooring lines without triggering them. Mine neutralization vehicle MNV.jpg
AN/SLQ-48 MNS (Mine Neutralization System) in use aboard Ardent. This remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) is controlled through an umbilical cable, has low acoustic and magnetic signature, and is equipped with low-light television (LLTV) cameras, allowing it to get close to mines to place destructive charges or cut their mooring lines without triggering them.

USS Ardent (MCM-12) is an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship in the United States Navy.

She was built by Peterson Shipbuilders, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Ardent is homeported at San Diego, California and is part of the U.S. 3rd Fleet.

Her Command History for 1993-94 indicates that '.. on 1 November 1994 a reorganization of the U.S. Navy's Mine Countermeasures Community took place. Commander, Mine Warfare Command ceased to be Type Commander for the ships homeported in Ingleside, Texas; and a new entity, Naval Surface Group Ingleside, was created to serve as local agent for the new Type Commander, Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic. NSG Ingleside was also intended to give the Ingleside ships "cradle to grave" assistance and supervision. In the new organization, ARDENT was assigned to Mine Countermeasures Squadron 3 (MCMRON 3). ARDENT remained in MCMRON 3 through the end of 1994.

Ardent was featured in a front-page article in the 31 July 2006 edition of DefenceNews that pointed out that Ardent and USS Dextrous were suffering from equipment failures that made them unable to perform their role. [1]

Ardent held a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Base San Diego on 17 August 2020 and was officially decommissioned on 27th of the same month. [2]

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Coronado</i> (AGF-11) Austin-class amphibious transport dock

USS Coronado (AGF-11) was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the city of the same name in the U.S. state of California. She was designed as an Austin-class amphibious transport dock (LPD), one of seven fitted with an additional superstructure level for command ship duties. The ship was launched on 1 July 1966, commissioned 23 May 1970, and became the most advanced command ship in the world. The ship was the second combatant ship in the United States Navy to integrate women as full-time crew members.

USS <i>Ponce</i> (LPD-15) Ship

USS Ponce, is an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, formerly in service with the United States Navy. She has been the only ship of the Navy named for Ponce in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which in turn was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León, the first governor of Puerto Rico and the European discoverer of Florida. Her keel was laid down on 31 October 1966 by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 20 May 1970 sponsored by Florence W. Hyland, the wife of Admiral John J. Hyland, and commissioned on 10 July 1971. She spent most of her career based on the East Coast and operating in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, serving in Operation Desert Shield and supporting US operations in the 2011 Libyan Civil War.

USS <i>Vandegrift</i> (FFG-48) Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate

USS Vandegrift (FFG-48) was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate of the United States Navy. The ship was named for General Alexander A. Vandegrift (1887–1973), 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps.

USS <i>Higbee</i> Gearing-class destroyer

USS Higbee (DD/DDR-806) was a Gearing-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II. She was the first U.S. warship named for a female member of the U.S. Navy, being named for Chief Nurse Lenah S. Higbee (1874–1941), a pioneering Navy nurse who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I.

USS <i>Cowpens</i> (CG-63) Ticonderoga-class cruiser

USS Cowpens (CG-63) is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser in service with the United States Navy. The ship is named after the Battle of Cowpens, a major American victory near Cowpens, South Carolina, in the American Revolution. She was built at the Bath Iron Works in Maine. Cowpens is stationed at Naval Base San Diego.

A destroyer squadron is a naval squadron or flotilla usually consisting of destroyers rather than other types of vessel. In some navies other vessels, such as frigates, may be included. In English the word "squadron" tends to be used for larger and "flotilla" for smaller vessels; both may be used for destroyer units. Similar formations are used in non-English-speaking countries, e.g., the "escadrille"—which would translate directly as "squadron"—in France.

USS <i>Thach</i> (FFG-43)

USS Thach (FFG-43), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, was the only ship of the United States Navy named for Admiral John Thach, a Naval Aviator during World War II, who invented the Thach Weave dogfighting tactic.

USS <i>Inchon</i> Former amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy

USS Inchon (LPH/MCS-12) was an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship of the United States Navy in service from 1970 to 2002. Following a major fire, she was laid up and sunk as a target in 2004.

USS <i>Comstock</i> (LSD-45)

USS Comstock (LSD-45) is a Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the second Navy ship to be named for the Comstock Lode in Nevada, the first being Comstock (LSD-19), commissioned in 1945 and decommissioned in 1976. The Comstock Lode was discovered in 1859, and was one of the richest deposits of precious metals known in the world.

Naval Station Ingleside

Naval Station Ingleside was a United States Navy base in Ingleside, Texas.

USS <i>Avenger</i> (MCM-1)

USS Avenger (MCM-1) was the lead ship of her class of mine countermeasures ship, and the third U.S. Navy ship of that name.

USS <i>Patriot</i> (MCM-7) Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship

USS Patriot (MCM-7), is an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship of the United States Navy, and is the third Navy ship of that name. The hulls of the Avenger-class ships are constructed of wood with an external coat of fiberglass.

USS <i>Chief</i> (MCM-14)

USS Chief (MCM-14) is an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship of the United States Navy. She was named for the former USS Chief (AM-315), which in turn was named in honor of all chief petty officers of the US Navy.

USS <i>Raven</i> (MHC-61) US Navy coastal minesweeper

USS Raven (MHC-61), an Osprey-class coastal minehunter, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named for the raven. The contract to build her was awarded to Intermarine USA in Savannah, Georgia on 31 March 1993 and her keel was laid down on 1 April 1995. She was launched on 28 September 1996, and commissioned on 5 September 1998.

USS Targeteer was an LSM(R)-501-class landing ship medium (rocket) originally projected as LSM-508. The landing craft was reclassified as LSM(R)-508 in February 1945 and laid down on 31 March 1945 at Houston, TX, by the Brown Shipbuilding Corporation. Launched on 28 April 1945, LSM(R)-508 was commissioned at Houston on 25 June 1945, Lieutenant Harry E. Montgomery, USNR, in command.

USS <i>Widgeon</i> (AMS-208) Minesweeper of the United States Navy

USS Widgeon (AMS/MSC-208) was a Bluebird-class minesweeper acquired by the US Navy for clearing coastal minefields.

USS <i>Defender</i> (MCM-2)

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.

USS <i>Champion</i> (MCM-4) Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship

USS Champion (MCM-4), an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship, is the fourth U.S. Navy ship of that name.

USS <i>Mount Vernon</i> (LSD-39)

USS Mount Vernon (LSD-39) was an Anchorage-class dock landing ship of the United States Navy. She was the fifth ship of the U.S. Navy to bear the name. She was built in Massachusetts in 1972 and homeported in Southern California for 31 years until being decommissioned on 25 July 2003. Mount Vernon acted as the control ship for the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. In 2005, she was intentionally destroyed off the coast of Hawaii as part of a training exercise.

USS <i>Scout</i> (MCM-8)

The fourth USS Scout (MCM-8) is an Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship of the United States Navy.

References

  1. DefenceNews
  2. "CHAMPION, SCOUT, ARDENT Decommission After Distinguished Service" (Press release). United States Navy. 20 August 2020.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register , which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.