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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Ship Photo Archive
Right patch contributed by Mike Smolinski

Champion (MCM 4)



Call sign:
November - Oscar - Kilo - Bravo
Avenger Class Mine Countermeasures Ship:

  • Built by Marinette Marine Corp, Marinette, WI
  • Ordered, 23 December 1983
  • Laid down, 28 June 1984
  • Launched, 15 April 1989
  • Commissioned, 08 February 1991
  • Decommissioned at Naval Base San Diego, CA, 25 August 2020
  • Stricken from Naval Register same day
  • Final fate, disposition pending
    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,040 tons
  • Length 210'
  • Beam 38'
  • Draft 10' 6"
  • Speed 14 knots
  • Complement 81
  • Armament: Two M2HB .50 cal. machine guns, two M60 7.62 mm machine guns, two Mk19 grenade launchers
  • Propulsion: Four Waukesha Motors Co. diesel engines, two controllable reversible pitch propellers, two shafts, two electric light load propulsion motors
  • 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-2 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.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Champion 126k Ships plaque Tommy Trampp
    Champion 66k
    Champion 134k . Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Champion 139k
    Champion 31k Belt buckle Tommy Trampp
    Champion 591k 11 October 1991
    San Diego Bay
    One of six U.S. Navy ships taking part in the Parade of Ships, part of San Diego's Accolades '91 celebration honoring local military units and installations
    U.S. Navy photo 330-CFD-DN-ST-92-01251 by PH1 Oriez from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Champion 82k 13 March 1999
    Champion, Devastator (MCM 6) and Avenger (MCM 1) in line for refueling
    U.S. Navy photo 990313-N-7949J-0101
    Champion 437k 27 April 1999
    Champion and Avenger (MCM 1) at Toulon, France
    Photo by Guy Schaeffer    		 Paolo Marsan
    Avenger 223k
    Champion 257k 30 April 1999
    La Spezia, Italy    		 Carlo Martinelli
    Champion 245k 21 May 1999
    La Spezia, Italy
    Avenger 58k c. 1999
    Malaga, Spain
    Scout (MCM 8), Champion and Avenger (MCM 1) in port    		 Thomas Dollard
    Champion 128k 22 July 2002
    Sailors aboard the Champion lower the AN/SLQ-48 Mine Neutralization Vehicle into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The remotely operated vehicle uses sonar and video cameras to find and identify underwater objects. If the operators find a mine, the vehicle can place small explosive charges near the mine to neutralize it. Champion is participating in Gulf of Mexico Exercise 02-2 near Corpus Christi, Tex. During the exercise, Champion was tasked with searching for and clearing exercise "mines" from critical waterways in the area
    U.S. Navy photo 020722-N-5745B-002 by Lieutenant Marc Boyd    		 Bill Gonyo
    Scout 221k 23 September 2005
    Ingleside, TX
    In preparation of Hurricane Rita, mine countermeasures ships home ported at Naval Station Ingleside nest in a modified mooring. Ships present (left to right): Unknown, Scout (MCM 8), unknown, Sentry (MCM 3), Champion, Pioneer (MCM 9), Chief (MCM 14), Gladiator (MCM 11), Avenger (MCM 1) and Defender (MCM 2)
    U.S. Navy photo 050923-N-4913K-006 by Fifi Kieschnick    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Champion 413k c. January 2014
    Naval Station San Diego, CA
    Scout (MCM 8), Ardent (MCM 12), Champion, and Chief (MCM 14)    		 BMCS Richard Miller, USNR, Ret.
    Anchorage 156k 17 July 2014
    USS Anchorage (LPD-23)), the Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships USS Scout (MCM-8) and Champion, and the Canadian Forces Kingston-Class coastal defense vessel HMCS Nanaimo (MM 702) transit in formation off the coast of Southern California, 17 July 2014, as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) Exercise 2014. Twenty-two nations, 49 ships, six submarines, about 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 26 to Aug. 1, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California
    U.S. Navy photo 140717-N-FE250-760 by MCC Mark C. Schultz    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR Stanley Vincent DeGeus, USN27 July 1991 - 18 September 1992
    02LCDR Todd Webster Malloy, USN - USNA Class of 198118 September 1992 - 24 June 1994
    03LCDR Mark Raymond Rios, USN - USNA Class of 198224 June 1994 - February 1995
    04LCDR Glenn Michael Irvine, USNFebruary 1995 - 21 July 1995
    05LCDR Shaun Gilliland, USN21 July 1995 - 08 March 1996 (crew rotating with MCM 10)
    06LCDR John Maddox Chandler, USN08 March 1996 - 29 March 1996
    07LCDR Lewis Christopher Nygard, USN29 March 1996 - 06 February 1998
    08CDR John Garrett (Johnny) Walker, USN06 February 1998 - 04 November 1999
    09CDR Kenneth Lewis Williams, Jr., USN04 November 1999 - 07 August 2001
    10LCDR Philip Hans Roos, USN - Awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and three Meritorious Service Medals07 August 2001 - 02 May 2003
    11LCDR Warren Ross Buller, II, USN2 May 2003 - 15 August 2004
    12LCDR Michael B. Riley, USN15 August 2004 - December 2005 (Crew Dominant)
    13LCDR Benjamin R. Nicholson, USNDecember 2005 - February 2006
    14LCDR Michael Brent DeVore, USNFebruary 2006 - April 2006
    15LT David Kingdon Faught, USNApril 2006 - June 2007
    16LCDR Bertram Cort Hodge, USNJune 2007 - 07 December 2007
    17LCDR John Robert H. Callaway, USN07 December 2007 - 29 September 2008 (crew rotating with MCM 8)
    18LCDR Michael Frank Gesualdo, USN29 September 2008 - November 2009
    19LCDR Brandon Lee Murray, USN - Awarded two Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and five Navy/Marine Corps Achievement MedalsNovember 2009 - 06 August 2010 (Crew Bulwark)
    20LCDR Patrick R. Murphy, USN - Awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, seven Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals02 April 2010 - 06 August 2010 (Crew Dominant)
    21LCDR Gerald Paul Lario, USN06 August 2010 - 01 May 2011 (Crew Dominant)
    22LCDR Victor Brace Sheldon, II, USN - USNA Class of 1999
    Awarded four Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals, and three Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals    		01 May 2011 - 07 November 2011 (Crew Persistent)
    23LCDR Matthew Thomas Erdner, USN - Awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal and the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal07 November 2011 - February 2012 (Crew Dominant)
    24LCDR James Joseph Sordi, Jr., USN - Awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, three Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals2012 (Crew Persistent)
    25LCDR Daniel Lee Shorter, II, USNFebruary 2012 (Crew Fearless)
    26LCDR Edward Jenkins "Ted" Pledger, USN - USNA Class of 2000February 2012 - August 2012 (Crew Spartan)
    27LCDR Edison Clair Rush, III, USN - USMMA Class of 2002
    Awarded two Meritorious Service Medals, two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and three Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals    		August 2012 - 2013 (Crew Swerve)
    28LCDR Christopher James Gilbertson, USN - Awarded the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and six Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals2013 - 11 March 2014 (Crew Reaper)
    29LCDR Horst Dieter Sollfrank, Jr., USN - Awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal11 March 2014 - 20 January 2015 (Crew Dominant)
    30LCDR Christopher W. Petro, USN - Awarded five Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and three Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals20 January 2015 - 24 July 2016 (Crew Dominant)
    31LCDR Joseph Christopher Burgon, USN - USNA Class of 200424 July 2016 - 14 July 2017 (Crew Dominant)
    32LCDR Joshua Daniel Kristenson, USN - Awarded two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals14 July 2017 - 06 September 2018 (Crew Dominant)
    33LCDR Matthew Thomas Yokeley, USN - Awarded two Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals06 September 2018 - 25 August 2020 (Crew Dominant)
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Champion (MCM 4
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo & maintained by Joseph M. Radigan & David L. Wright
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    Last Updated 14 December 2023