USS Kingfisher (MHC-56)

USS Kingfisher on the Hudson River, 2003
History
United States
Name:	USS Kingfisher
Namesake:	Kingfisher
Awarded:	29 March 1991
Builder:	Avondale Shipyards
Laid down:	12 February 1993
Launched:	18 June 1994
Acquired:	24 July 1996
Commissioned:	26 October 1996
Decommissioned:	1 December 2007
Struck:	01 December 2007
Fate:	Sold by U.S. General Services Administration for scrap, 08 May 2014
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Osprey-class coastal minehunter
Displacement:	868 tons (light) 955 tons (full)
Length:	188 ft (57 m)
Beam:	36 ft (11 m)
Draft:	11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion:	Two diesels (800 hp each)
Speed:	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	5 officers and 46 enlisted
Armament:	Mine neutralization system & two .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns

USS Kingfisher (MHC-56) was the sixth ship of Osprey-class coastal mine hunters. She is named after the kingfisher.

Kingfisher was decommissioned in a joint ceremony along with three other Coastal Mine Hunters. She was the last Coastal Mine Hunter (MHC) in active service with the US Navy. She was transferred to a Naval Inactive Ships Storage Facility in Texas to await transfer under Foreign Military Sales. In September 2010, the US Senate had approved the sale of the ship to India along with MHC-57 Cormorant. This sale never happened. Stricken from the Navy list 01 December 2007, sold by U.S. General Services Administration for scrap, 08 May 2014.

References

• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
• http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NEWS/newsrf.php?newsid=13487