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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Ship Photo Archive
Courtesy of Mike Smolinski

Kingfisher (MHC-56)



Call sign:
November - Kilo - Golf - Foxtrot
Osprey Class Coastal Minehunter:

  • Laid down 12 February 1993 by Avondale Industries, Gulfport, MS
  • Launched 18 June 1994
  • Commissioned 26 October 1996
  • Decommissioned 1 December 2007 at Naval Station Ingleside, TX and struck from the Navy register
  • Towed to Beaumont, TX 27 December 2007 to be laid up for possible future use in the Foreign Military Sales program
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 895 Metric Tons
  • Length 188'
  • Beam 36'
  • Draft (Navigation) 9' 5", Draft (Keel) 7'
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 53
  • Armament: Two .50 cal. machine guns and one man held Stinger missile launcher
  • Propulsion: Two 800hp Isotta Fraschini ID36 SS8V-AM diesel engines; two Voith Schneider vertical axis, cycloidal, controllable pitch propellers, two shafts
  • Electrical Systems: Two ship service diesel generators, one ship service/emergency diesel generator; Monocoque Design glass reinforced plastic monohull design. No longitudinal or transverse hull framing. The skin carries all the
    stresses. The vessel is flexible under shock. Machinery is supported by cradles from the main deck
  • Sensors/Navigation Systems AN/SYQ-13 Navigation, Command & Control System, AN/SPS-64(V)9 surface search radar, AN/SPA-25G radar display; AN/UQN-4A sonar sounding set, AN/WSN-2 stabilized gyrocompass,
    Hyper-fix radio navigation system, Loran C, Military global positioning system (GPS), AN/BQH-7A expendable bathythermograph set
  • Mine Countermeasures Systems: AN/SLQ-48(V)2 mine neutralization system (MNS), AN/SQQ-32 minehunting sonar.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Kingfisher 23k Namesake: Kingfisher - One of Europe's most beautiful birds conspicuous for its blue-green back and rich chestnut breast Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 17 February 2020
    Kingfisher 27k U.S. Navy photo USS Kingfisher (MHC-56) Website
    Kingfisher 48k Photo by MN1(SW) Mike Cooley
    Kingfisher 124k
    Kingfisher 72k
    Kingfisher 92k U.S. Navy photo from Commander, Mine Warfare Command Fabio Peña
    Kingfisher 127k Entering a Canadian port Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Kingfisher 121k
    Kingfisher 73k 7 October 1999
    Neches River en route to Beaumont, Texas
    U.S. Navy photo by ENS Chuck Bell    		 .
    Sentry 115 16 March 2000
    The Gulf of Mexico
    USS Sentry (MCM 3), foreground, and Kingfisher are underway in the Gulf of Mexico as they depart Naval Station, Ingleside, TX for a cruise to the Great Lakes and to several
    fleet exercises
    U.S. Navy photo 000316-N-7867W-507    		 Photographer's Mate 1st Class Charlo Whorton
    Kingfisher 83k 19 May 2000
    Toledo, Ohio
    Kingfisher sails into the Maumee River on its way to the Port of Toledo. She was visiting Toledo as part of the Navy's annual Great Lakes Cruise. The Navy sponsors the annual cruise to raise awareness of the Navy for the people of the Great Lakes Region and to promote recruiting
    U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Scott McIlnay. [000519-N-8321M-001]    		 Fabio Peña
    Kingfisher 75k 22 May 2000
    Toledo, Ohio
    Moored pierside at International Park in the Port of Toledo as visitors tour the ship. She was visiting Toledo as part of the Navy's annual Great Lakes Cruise. The Navy sponsors the annual cruise to raise awareness of the Navy to the people of the Great Lakes region and promote recruiting
    U.S. Navy photo 000522r-N-1266K-018 by Chief Journalist Fred Kerner, USN, (Ret.)    		 Bill Gonyo
    Kingfisher 87k 28 May 2000
    Mackinaw City, Mich.
    Kingfisher approaches the city dock at Mackinaw City, Mich., as the crew prepares for the ship's arrival. She was visiting Mackinaw City as part of the Navy's annual Great Lakes Cruise. The Navy sponsors the annual cruise to raise awareness of the Navy for the people of the Great Lakes Region and to promote recruiting.
    U.S. Navy photo by Lieut. Scott McIlnay. [000528-N-8321M-002].    		 Fabio Peña
    Kingfisher 68k 2 July 2000
    Clayton, NY
    Kingfisher lowers a remotely-operated mine neutralization vehicle as a demonstration for civilian guests during a day sail on the St. Lawrence River.  Kingfisher, a coastal minehunter, and USS Defender (MCM 2), a mine counter-measures ship, are visiting Clayton, N.Y., as part of the Navy's Great Lakes Cruise 2000. The Navy sponsors the annual cruise to raise awareness of the Navy for the people of the Great Lakes Region and to promote recruiting.
    U.S. Navy photo by Lt. Catherine Perreault. [000702-N-5962P-004].
    Kingfisher 427k 22 May 2002
    Hudson River, NY
    A starboard beam view of the coastal minehunter Kingfisher, underway on the Hudson River, steaming past Battery Park, New York City, while participating in the 15th Annual Fleet Week Celebration, "Parade of Ships."
    U.S. Navy photo 020522-N-6626D-001 by PH3 Amy DelaTorres    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Bradley Dean Martin, USN26 October 1996 - 18 February 1998
    02LCDR David F. Eastwood, USN18 February 1998 - 5 November 1999
    03LCDR Michael Anthony Hall, USN5 November 1999 - 4 May 2001
    04LCDR James E. McGovern, USN4 May 2001 - 12 June 2003
    05LCDR Timothy Funston Sparks, USN12 June 2003 - 13 June 2005
    06LCDR Todd Alan Braynard, USN13 June 2005 - 7 April 2007
    07LCDR Shanti Rae Sethi, USN7 April 2007 - 1 December 2007
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Kingfisher (MHC 56)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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