USS Ardent (MCM-12)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Ardent and HMAS Ardent.

USS Ardent at sea in the Persian Gulf, July 2005
History
United States
Name	USS Ardent
Ordered	12 December 1989
Laid down	22 October 1990
Launched	16 November 1991
Christened	20 August 1993
Commissioned	18 February 1994
Homeport	San Diego, California
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Template:Sclass-
Displacement	1,312 tons
Length	224 ft (68 m)
Beam	39 ft (12 m)
Draft	11.5 ft (3.5 m)
Propulsion	four diesels
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h)
Complement	8 Officers, 6 Chief Petty Officers and 58 Enlisted
Armament	Mine neutralization system, two .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns

The third USS Ardent (MCM-12) is an Template:Sclass- mine countermeasures ship in the United States Navy.

She was built by Peterson Shipbuilders, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Ardent is homeported at San Diego, California and is part of the U.S. 3rd Fleet.

Her Command History for 1993-94 indicates that '.. from 1 January 1994 to 31 October 1994 ARDENT was assigned to Mine Countermeasures Group 3' under Captain Richard Owens. On 1 November 1994 a reorganization of the U.S. Navy's Mine Countermeasures Community took place. Commander, Mine Warfare Command ceased to be Type Commander for the ships homeported in Ingleside, Texas; and a new entity, Naval Surface Group Ingleside, was created to serve as local agent for the new Type Commander, Commander, Naval Surface Forces Atlantic. NSG Ingleside was also intended to give the Ingleside ships "cradle to grave" assistance and supervision. In the new organization, ARDENT was assigned to Mine Countermeasures Squadron 3 (MCMRON 3), still under Captain Richard Owens. ARDENT remained in MCMRON 3 through the end of 1994.

Ardent was featured in a front-page article in the 31 July 2006 edition of DefenceNews that pointed out that Ardent and USS Dextrous were suffering from equipment failures that made them unable to perform their role.

References

 This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

External links

• Official page

AN/SLQ-48 MNS (Mine Neutralization System) in use aboard Ardent. This remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) is controlled through an umbilical cable, has low acoustic and magnetic signature, and is equipped with low-light television (LLTV) cameras, allowing it to get close to mines to place destructive charges or cut their mooring lines without triggering them.