USS Defender

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 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	1,253 tons (light) 1,367 tons (full load)
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

It 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

Auxiliary 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

For 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)