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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Ship Photo Archive

Guardian (MCM-5)



Call sign:
November - Bravo - Tango - Xray
Avenger Class Mine Countermeasures Ship:

  • Laid down, 8 May 1985 at Peterson Builders Inc, Sturgeon Bay, Wisc.
  • Launched, 20 June 1987
  • Commissioned 16 December 1989
  • Active, Mine Countermeasures Squadron One, Sasebo, Japan.

    Specifications:

    Displacement 1,253 t. (lt), 1,367 t. (fl)
    Length 224'
    Beam 39'
    Draft 15'
    Speed 13.5 kts.
    Complement seven officers, 75 enlisted
    Armament: Two M2HB .50 cal. machine guns, two M60 7.62 mm machine guns, two MK19 Grenade Launchers
    Propulsion: Four Isotta Fraschini diesel engines (600 BHP each), two controllable reversible pitch propellers, two rudders, two electric light load propulsion motors
    Auxiliary Systems: Three Isotta Fraschini 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
    Guardian 47k U.S. Navy photo -
    Guardian 40k U.S. Navy photo -
    Guardian 35k Capt. Jeffery S. Jones commanded the Guardia from 3 September 1993 to 25 September 1994 Bill Gonyo
    MCM-5/7 37k Guardian steaming to starboard of USS Patriot (MCM 7).
    U.S. Navy Photo by Charles Whorton from the October 2001 edition of U.S. Naval Proceedings    		 Joe Radigan
    Guardian 246k 28 January 2002
    A crewmember prepares to give the order for a Side Scanning Sonar "fish" to be lowered into the ocean off the coast of Japan. The “Fish” is a portable device, which provides ships the ability to conduct precision underwater mapping operations of ports and ocean floors, critical to planning mine countermeasure operations.
    U.S. Navy photo 020128-N-0401E-002 by JOSN Wes Eplen    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 318k 28 January 2002
    A crewmember prepares to deploy a Side Scanning Sonar "fish" off the coast of Japan.
    U.S. Navy photo 020128-N-0401E-004 by JOSN Wes Eplen    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 285k 22 July 2002
    Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan
    Loved ones wait to greet their sailors aboard Guardian as the ship return to India Basin, Sasebo, Japan, after three months underway. She has recently travelled throughout the Pacific region participating in Exercise Cobra Gold 2002 conducting Mine Warfare Refresher Training.
    U.S. Navy photo 020722-N-0401E-001 by JO3 Wes Eplen    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 345k 23 April 2003
    U.S. Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan
    Lt. Cmdr. Stanley Keeve, Commanding Officer of Guardian conducts a "Captain's Call" following a dress white uniform inspection.
    U.S. Navy photo 030423-N-8937A-003 by Photographer’s Mate Airman Ian W. Anderson    		 Bill Gonyo
    Guardian 311k 13 November 2003
    Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan
    At sea for a day, the Guardian steams out of Sasebo Bay in search of open seas in which to conduct shipboard training exercises.
    U.S. Navy photo 031113-N-2420K-001 by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Jonathan R. Kulp    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 488k 18 February 2004
    Inland Sea, Japan
    Deck personnel aboard Guardian recover gear after completing a mine sweep during the Mine Countermeasures Exercise/Explosive Ordnance Demolition Exercise 2004 off the coast of
    Shimonoseki, Japan.
    U.S. Navy photo 040218-N-0000W-001    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Patriot 341k 10 March 2004
    Sasebo, Japan
    USS Patriot (MCM 7) and Guardian sit moored in a shipbuilding dry dock for a one-month maintenance and repair schedule in Sasebo.
    U.S. Navy photo 040310-N-7217H-002 by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Marvin Harris    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 394k 8 July 2005
    Sasebo, Japan
    Guardian pulls into the India Basin in Sasebo, Japan. The ship returned to Sasebo after completing a successful three-month deployment that included three joint exercises and port visits in six countries.
    U.S. Navy photo 050708-N-4124C-007    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 238k 19 September 2006
    Vladivostok, Russia
    Guardian is moored alongside USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) in Russia’s largest naval base in the Far East. During their stay in Vladivostok, the ship’s approximately 90 crew members had a chance to participate in sporting matches, cultural exchanges and community relations events with the local population.
    U.S. Navy photo 060919-N-7899C-001    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 498k 16 February 2007
    Sea of Japan
    Guardian and USS Patriot (MCM 7) split two Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) ships, JDS Tsushima (MSO 302) and JDS Hachijo (MSO 303), during a photo exercise at the conclusion of a passing exercise between the two navies. Guardian and Patriot met with the JMSDF ships for bi-lateral training as they headed back to their forward-deployed home of Sasebo.
    U.S. Navy photo 020716-N-0000X-001 courtesy of Japan Maritime Self Defense Force Public Affairs.    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 311k 24 June 2007
    Yonaguni, Japan
    Guardian pulls into Port Sonai for a two-day port visit while supporting the U.S. 7th Fleet’s interoperability and training commitments. Yonaguni, part of Okinawa Prefecture, is a small island located at the end of the Ryukyu Islands chain.
    U.S. Navy photo 070624-N-3019M-001 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan C. McGinley    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Patriot 261k 24 June 2007
    Yonaguni, Japan
    Guardian and USS Patriot (MCM 7) are moored abreast at Port Sonai for a two-day port visit. The port call marked the first time a Navy vessel visited the island since the United States returned Okinawa to Japan in 1972.
    U.S. Navy photo 070624-N-3019M-006 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ryan C. McGinley    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Guardian 86k Lieutenant Commander Steve DeMoss (L), commanding officer of Guardian, and Lieutenant Commander Thomas Shultz, commanding officer of USS Patriot (MCM 7), walk in the northeastern Vietnam port of Haiphong, about 100 km (62 miles) east of Hanoi November 14, 2007. The two vessels are the first U.S. Navy ships to visit northern Vietnam since the former foes ended the war in 1975 and established diplomatic relations in 1995.
    Reuters Newsservice photo    		 Bill Gonyo
    There is no DANFS history available for Guardian (MCM-5)
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Official Navy Web Site for USS Guardian (MCM-5)
    Association of Minemen
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