 USS Raven in the Persian Gulf, 2004
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Osprey class |
| Builders | |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | Harkness class |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Built | 1991–1995 |
| In service | 1993–present |
| In commission | 1993–2007 (US Navy) |
| Planned | 12 |
| Completed | 12 |
| Active |
|
| Scrapped | 6 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Coastal minehunter |
| Displacement | 881 long tons (895 t) (full load) |
| Length | 188 ft (57 m) |
| Beam | 36 ft (11 m) |
| Draft | 7 ft (2.1 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Range | 1,500 nautical miles (2,800 km) |
| Endurance | 15 days |
| Complement | 5 officers, 4 non-commissioned officers, 42 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
|
The Osprey class are a series of coastal minehunters designed to find, classify, and destroy moored and bottom naval mines from vital waterways.
Their design is based on the second series of the Italian Lerici-class, built in La Spezia by Intermarine between 1990 and 1996. Eight vessels were built in the Intermarine shipyard located in Savannah, while the remaining four have been built by a second-source shipyard under a Technology Transfer and Licence Agreement.[1]
They use sonar and video systems, cable cutters and a mine detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control. The Osprey class are the world's second largest minehunters (surpassed by the Royal Navy's 60-meter (200 ft) Hunt-class mine countermeasures vessels) to be constructed entirely of fiberglass and designed to survive the shock of underwater explosions. Their primary mission is reconnaissance, classification, and neutralization of all types of moored and bottom mines in littoral areas, harbors and coastal waterways.[2]
- ^ Report on Survey of U.S. Shipbuilding and Repair Facilities. Northwestern University: U.S. Department of Commerce, Maritime Administration. 1993. p. 22.
Intermarine SpA of Sarzana, Italy, was invited by the United States Navy to transfer their composite material design and production technology to the USA in support of a new Coastal Minehunter program. In response, Intermarine USA was established in 1987 following a U.S. Navy contract, awarded on a sole source basis, to build large minehunters using composite materials. Intermarine completely renovated a shipyard in Savannah, Georgia, and converted it into a modern composite manufacturing facility.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
awas invoked but never defined (see the help page).