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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Ship Photo Archive

Cardinal (MHC 60)



Call sign:
November - Charlie - Romeo - Delta


Cardinal served the Navies of the United States and Egypt.
Osprey Class Coastal Minehunter:

  • Laid down 13 April 1994 by the Intermarine USA Shipyard, Savannah, GA
  • Launched 9 March 1996
  • Commissioned USS Cardinal (MHC 60), 18 October 1997
  • Transferred 1 September 2000 from the Naval Reserve Force to the active fleet for permanent deployment to the Persian Gulf and home ported at Manama, Bahrain
  • Decommissioned 7 January 2007, struck from the Navy list and transferred to Egypt
  • Commissioned al Shareen in July 2007.

    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
    Cardinal 63k
    Namesake:

    Cardinal - A crested red finch widely known in the eastern United States

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Cardinal 30k
    Cardinal 34k
    Cardinal 38k Savannah, GA USS Cardinal Website
    Cardinal 519k 27 October 1996
    Potomac River
    Port beam view of the Osprey-class coastal minehunter, Cardinal, underway on the Potomac River, en route to the Washington Navy Yard
    U.S. Navy photo DN-SD-0409273 by Don S.Montgomery, USN (Ret)    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Cardinal 24k c. 1997
    Commissioning Crew    		 USS Cardinal Website
    Cardinal 422k 22 July 2000
    Ingleside, TX
    The coastal minehunters Cardinal, left and USS Raven (MHC 61) float above the submerged deck of the commercial motor vessel MV Blue Marlin prior to de-ballasting operations which will lift the minehunters onto MV Blue Marlin's deck for transport to the Arabian Gulf
    U.S. Navy photo 000722-N-0000B-001 by by LTJG Chuck Bell    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Cardinal & Raven 306k 22 July 2000
    Ingleside, TX
    Coastal mine-hunters USS Cardinal (MHC-60) and USS Raven (MHC-61) sit on the deck of the commercial motor vessel MV Blue Marlin after de-ballasting operations, which lifted the mine-hunters onto the MV Blue Marlin’s deck for transport
    Photo by LTJG Chuck Bell, USN
    U.S. Navy photo ID 000722-N-0000B-002    		 Robert Hurst
    Cardinal 247k 24 April 2003
    The mine warfare ship, Cardinal returns to her homeport at Naval Support Activity Bahrain after 45 days at sea conducting mine clearing operations in the Northern Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom
    U.S. Navy photo 030424-N-5362A-007 by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Arlo K. Abrahamson    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Cardinal 216k 28 February 2005
    Manama, Bahrain
    Members of Naval Support Activity Bahrain's Emergency Response Team board the mine countermeasure ship Cardinal to fight a simulated fire during exercise Desert Sailor 2005. Exercise Desert Sailor is an annual two-week exercise to ensure emergency response efforts are well coordinated with local Bahraini directorates in case of an actual emergency
    U.S. Navy photo 50228-N-9563N-006 by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Phillip A. Nickerson, Jr.    		 Bill Gonyo
    Cardinal 80k 1 October 2006
    In formation during FAWOMAWEX 7-01    		 HMC(SW) Charles T. "Tom" Canterbury, IDC MHC CREW GALLANT/USS
    CARDINAL (MHC 60)
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR William Augustine Sheehan, USN18 October 1997 - 15 January 1999
    02LCDR Peter Karl Dallman, USN - USNA Class of 198415 January 1999 - 2002
    03LCDR Johnny Lawrence Schultz, USN28 June 2002
    04LCDR Daniel Edward Voth, USN28 June 2002 to 24 June 2004
    05LCDR Thomas Patrick Hollingshead, USN24 June 2004 - 23 February 2005
    06CDR Keith Allen Knutsen, USN23 February 2005 - 2005
    07LCDR Derek Andrew Trinque, USN - USNA Class of 1992
    Awarded three Legions of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three Navy Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals and the Combat Action Ribbon - RADM (LH) Currently serving (2022) as Commander, Expeditionary Strike Group Seven; Commander, Task Force 76; and Commander, Amphibious Force, Seventh Fleet, Yokosuka, Japan    		2005 - 10 August 2005 (Crews Valor and Excel)
    08LCDR Mark Douglas Kesselring, USN10 August 2005 - 10 March 2006
    09LCDR James LeRoy Storm, USN - Awarded two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, three Meritorious Service Medals, Joint Service Commendation Medal, five Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, Joint Service Achievement Medal, and two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals10 March 2006 - 21 May 2006
    10LCDR Rome Ruiz, USN21 May 2006 - 10 October 2006
    08LCDR Andrew Forrest Carlson, USN - USNA Class of 199510 October 2006 - 7 January 2007 (Crew Endurance)
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves, HMCS(SW/FMF) Charles T. Canterbury, USN and Joe Radigan
    View the Cardinal (MHC 60)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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