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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Ship Photo Archive

MHC-61 Raven



Call sign: November - Delta - Mike - Sierra

Osprey Class Coastal Mine Hunter: Laid down, 1 April 1995 by Intermarine USA, Savannah, GA; Launched, 28 August 1996; Commissioned USS Raven (MHC-61), 5 August 1998 at Baltimore, MD. Current status as of 1 September 1999, active in the Naval Reserve Force, Ingleside, TX; Transferred, 1 September 2000 to the active fleet for permanent deployment in the Persian Gulf, home ported in Manama, Bahrain.

Specifications: Displacement 895 Metric Tons; Length 188' ; Beam 36', Draft (Navigation) 9' 2"; Draft (Keel) 7'; Speed 10k; Complement 5 Officers, 48 Enlisted; Armament two .50 cal. machine guns; Propulsion two Isotta Fraschini ID36 SS8V-AM diesel engines, two Voith Schneider vertical axis, cycloidal, controllable pitch propellers, 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, Plotting table; 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.
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Size Image Description Source
Raven 58k Prior to launching USS Raven Web site
Raven 80k Entering Baltimore Harbor for commissioning. USS Raven Web site.
Raven 37k Baltimore, MD. USS Raven Web site
Raven 21k - USS Raven Web Site
Raven 68k Ingleside, TX, 22 July 2000. Engineers check the positioning of USS Raven (MHC 61) and USS Cardinal (MHC 60) on the deck of the M/V Blue Marlin. Blue Marlin was "partially sunk" allowing the coastal minehunters to float onto the transport ship which will carry them to the Arabian Gulf for duty with the Fifth Fleet. Cardinal and Raven will join USS Ardent (MCM 12) and USS Dextrous (MCM 13) which have been forward deployed to the Gulf since 1996.
U.S. Navy photo 000722-N-0000B-002.
LTJG Chuck Bell

There is no DANFS history available for Raven (MHC-61) at the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site, the main archive for the DANFS Online Project.

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S.Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Official Navy Web Site for USS Raven (MHC-61)
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
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