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USS Raven (MHC 61)

USS RAVEN was the eleventh OSPREY - class coastal mine hunter and the third ship in the Navy to bear the name of the bird. From September 1, 2000, until her decommissioning, the USS RAVEN was forward deployed in Manama, Bahrain. The ship was previously homeported in Ingleside, Tx.

The RAVEN was commissioned at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Md., on September 5, 1998. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland delivered the ceremony's principal address. Mrs. Dorothy McDowell Smith, wife of retired Adm. Leighton "Snuffy" Smith, Jr., former Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe/Commander in Chief, Allied Forces, Southern Europe, was the ship's sponsor.

Both decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list on January 7, 2007, the RAVEN was transfered to the Egyptian Navy the same day. There she was recommissioned as EL FAROUK.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS RAVEN. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The Shield:

Purpure, a stylized horned mine Or, overall a raven close regardant to dexter upon a Naval officer's sword and cutlass saltirewise points up Proper. Purpure refers to use of that color in the poem The Raven and other works of the late American author Edgar Alan Poe, now buried in Baltimore, Maryland. Gold is emblematic of honor and high achievement. The stylized mine highlights USS RAVEN's mine warfare mission past and present. Crossed sword and cutlass emphasize teamwork and reflect the contribution to readiness made by everyone assigned. The ship's namesake, the raven, underscores the ship's commitment to mission.

The Crest:

From a wreath Or and Purpure, a demi-sun insplendor superimposed by a stockless anchor Sable bearing on the shaft an ancient spearhead Proper, overall an arc of three mullets Azure. The sunburst highlights the U.S. Navy's worldwide deployed presence under a sun in the sky by a clever raven according to native American lore. The stockless anchor, used by the previous USS RAVEN, symbolizes the present USS RAVEN's firm hold on the finest traditions of the Navy. The spearhead symbolizes the mine warfare force's mission to be the first to enter dangerous waters. Three blue stars commemorate battle stars earned by the previous USS RAVEN during World War II for conducting mine clearance at the approaches to Utah Beach at Normandy, and before other engagements in the Mediterranean Sea.

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USS RAVEN History:

The construction contract for USS RAVEN was awarded to Intermarine USA of Savannah, Georgia, on March 31, 1993. Her keel was laid on April 1, 1995, and she was launched on September 28, 1996. Dorothy McDowell Smith, wife of retired Admiral Leighton W. "Snuffy" Smith Jr., former Commander in Chief, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Allied Forces Southern Europe, served as sponsor.

After completing construction, delivery and the initial fitting-out process, RAVEN proceeded to Baltimore, Maryland, in preparation for commissioning. On August 28, 1998, she was photographed entering Baltimore Harbor and subsequently mooring at Pratt Street Pier No. 4 in the Inner Harbor. RAVEN was commissioned there on September 5, 1998. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland delivered the principal address, and Dorothy McDowell Smith participated as ship sponsor. Lieutenant Commander Samuel C. Howard became the ship's first commanding officer. Following commissioning, RAVEN joined the Atlantic Fleet mine warfare community based at Naval Station Ingleside, Texas, where most of the Navy's dedicated surface mine countermeasures force was concentrated.

During her initial period at Ingleside, RAVEN served within the Naval Reserve Force. Her first years were devoted largely to the lengthy process of making a newly commissioned minehunter fully operational: machinery and navigation certification, mine warfare training, combat-systems testing, signature measurement and integration with other elements of the Navy's mine countermeasures force. Unlike many larger surface combatants, coastal minehunters depended heavily on maintaining precisely controlled magnetic and acoustic characteristics, and regular signature measurements and degaussing adjustments therefore formed an important part of their readiness cycle.

One of RAVEN's most significant early assignments came in March 1999, when the Navy used her for Follow-on Operational Test and Evaluation of the OSPREY-class mine warfare system. The test, formally designated Operational Test IIIB, was conducted from March 1 through March 16, 1999. It had been added to the class evaluation program to reexamine aspects of OSPREY-class performance that had been found deficient during earlier operational testing aboard other ships of the class.

RAVEN's crew operated and maintained the ship throughout the evaluation while personnel from the Navy's Operational Test and Evaluation Force collected data. Testing included minehunting and mine-neutralization operations in shallow coastal waters near Panama City, Florida, as well as operations in deeper parts of the Gulf of Mexico. RAVEN also spent periods on the Coastal Systems Station instrumented range, where her magnetic and acoustic signatures were measured and the ship's susceptibility to a representative bottom influence mine was assessed. The work provided the Navy with additional operational data on the effectiveness, reliability and suitability of the OSPREY-class minehunting system under realistic conditions.

RAVEN continued operating from Ingleside through the remainder of 1999 and into the first half of 2000. During this period, the Navy was preparing a major change in the disposition of its mine countermeasures forces in the Middle East. Since the Iran-Iraq War and the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf crisis, mines had remained an important operational concern in the region. Two AVENGER-class mine countermeasures ships, USS ARDENT (MCM 12) and USS DEXTROUS (MCM 13), had already been permanently forward deployed at Bahrain since the 1990s. The Navy decided to reinforce them with two OSPREY-class coastal minehunters.

RAVEN and USS CARDINAL (MHC 60) were selected for this assignment. Because the OSPREY-class ships had been optimized for coastal minehunting rather than prolonged transoceanic passages, the Navy did not require them to make the entire voyage from Texas to the Arabian Gulf under their own power. Instead, the two ships were transported aboard the commercial heavy-lift vessel MV BLUE MARLIN.

On July 22, 2000, RAVEN and USS CARDINAL were positioned over BLUE MARLIN's submerged cargo deck at Ingleside. After the minehunters had been maneuvered into position, the heavy-lift ship de-ballasted, raising its deck and lifting both vessels clear of the water. The unusual arrangement allowed RAVEN and USS CARDINAL to make the long inter-theater transit without placing the corresponding operating hours and mechanical strain on their propulsion machinery.

The two minehunters were transported to the Arabian Gulf for permanent assignment to the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Effective September 1, 2000, RAVEN transferred from the Naval Reserve Force to the active fleet and became permanently forward deployed at Manama, Bahrain. Together with USS CARDINAL, USS ARDENT and USS DEXTROUS, she formed the permanently based U.S. surface mine countermeasures force in the region.

On October 1, 2000, the Navy established Mine Countermeasures Division 31 at Manama to provide direct oversight and support to these four forward-deployed ships. The division was responsible for planning and supporting mine countermeasures exercises and operations in the Fifth Fleet area, coordinating logistical and training requirements and serving as the local center of expertise for mine warfare. Its establishment gave the Bahrain-based ships a permanent command structure suited to their specialized mission.

The regional security environment changed abruptly only days later when USS COLE was attacked by suicide bombers at Aden, Yemen, on October 12, 2000. The bombing led to increased force-protection measures throughout U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. USS BUNKER HILL (CG 52) subsequently provided force protection and logistical support in Bahrain while serving as a guard ship for the forward-deployed mine warfare force, including USS ARDENT, USS DEXTROUS, USS CARDINAL and RAVEN, from October 15 through November 12.

RAVEN remained based at Manama during 2001. She continued as one of the four permanently forward-deployed surface mine countermeasures ships under Mine Countermeasures Division 31. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom substantially increased the tempo and security requirements of U.S. naval operations throughout the Central Command area. The Bahrain-based mine warfare ships provided a standing capability that could respond to mine threats without requiring the lengthy deployment of specialized vessels from the United States.

In 2002, RAVEN participated in Mine Warfare Readiness and Effectiveness Measuring Program 20 in the Arabian Gulf. She served as the mine warfare command ship during the exercise. The surface component included USS DEXTROUS, USS ARDENT and USS CARDINAL, while MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters provided the airborne mine countermeasures component. Explosive ordnance disposal personnel formed the underwater element, supported from USNS CATAWBA (T-ATF 168).

The exercise took place in the central Arabian Gulf mine countermeasures operating area and combined minehunting, minesweeping and mine-neutralization tasks. Its purpose extended beyond individual proficiency. Surface ships, helicopters and explosive ordnance disposal personnel had to exchange contact information and coordinate searches so that different mine countermeasures techniques could be applied to the same operational problem. RAVEN's command role placed her at the center of this integrated process.

By early 2003, the four forward-deployed mine countermeasures ships in Bahrain were positioned for what became the most significant operational mine-clearance mission of RAVEN's U.S. Navy career. As U.S. and coalition forces prepared for military operations against Iraq, planners identified mines in the approaches to the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr and the Khawr Abd Allah waterway as a potential obstacle to both naval operations and the delivery of humanitarian supplies.

USS PONCE (LPD 15) became an afloat command platform for coalition mine countermeasures operations. By the end of February 2003, she was serving as the flagship for the mine warfare force under Commander Task Group 55.4. The force included, at various stages, USS GUNSTON HALL (LSD 44), RAVEN, USS CARDINAL, USS ARDENT and USS DEXTROUS, together with explosive ordnance disposal units, a Naval Special Clearance Team, MH-53E Sea Dragon helicopters and British and Australian mine-clearance personnel.

Mine-clearance operations intensified during March 2003 as coalition forces entered Iraq. The Khawr Abd Allah waterway formed the principal maritime approach to Umm Qasr, whose reopening was important not only for military logistics but also for plans to deliver humanitarian relief by sea. Mine countermeasures forces had to clear a usable route through the waterway while also examining the harbor itself for mines and underwater hazards.

RAVEN and USS CARDINAL used their minehunting sonars to search for bottom and moored mines, while USS ARDENT and USS DEXTROUS contributed their own minehunting and sweeping capabilities. MH-53E helicopters conducted airborne mine countermeasures, while U.S., British and Australian explosive ordnance disposal and clearance-diving teams investigated and neutralized contacts. Unmanned underwater vehicles and trained marine mammals were also employed, giving the coalition force several complementary methods of detecting underwater threats.

Between March 5 and March 28, the force progressively cleared the approaches to Umm Qasr. By late March, a channel approximately 200 yards wide had been made available for shipping, with further work continuing to widen the cleared area where conditions permitted. On March 28, the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary landing ship RFA SIR GALAHAD entered Umm Qasr carrying more than 200 tons of humanitarian supplies, including food and water. Its arrival demonstrated that the maritime access route created by the mine countermeasures force had become usable for relief shipping.

The work around Umm Qasr and the Khawr Abd Allah took place in difficult hydrographic conditions. The shallow water, tidal currents, limited underwater visibility and mixture of river and seawater complicated sonar and diving operations. The force also had to distinguish actual mines from the considerable amount of debris and other mine-like material present on and above the seabed. For RAVEN, the mission represented the operational application of the coastal minehunting role for which the OSPREY-class had originally been designed.

After the initial combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, RAVEN remained forward deployed in Bahrain as regional mine warfare requirements shifted from opening Iraqi waterways to maintaining readiness and testing future mine countermeasures systems. During November 2003, she participated in Mine Warfare Readiness and Effectiveness Measuring Program 27 in the Arabian Gulf. RAVEN was photographed underway during the exercise on November 10.

Mine Warfare Readiness and Effectiveness Measuring Program 27 was used to collect and analyze data on mine warfare performance and to evaluate possible improvements to existing equipment. The 2003 iteration was notable for the introduction of new unmanned underwater vehicles and an Expendable Mine Neutralization System. RAVEN and USS CARDINAL participated in comparing the capabilities of the experimental unmanned systems with the established sonar systems aboard the coastal minehunters. The objective was to determine whether conventional ship-based minehunting could be supplemented by systems capable of searching independently of the ship and thereby reducing the time required to clear a minefield.

RAVEN continued operating from Bahrain throughout 2004. By this stage, Operation Iraqi Freedom had entered the post-invasion security phase, and U.S. Fifth Fleet ships were conducting a combination of maritime security, protection of economically important infrastructure and routine regional exercises. On April 23, 2004, RAVEN was documented conducting local operations in the northern Arabian Gulf. Her continuing presence there placed the ship close to the principal Iraqi offshore approaches and oil infrastructure, where mine warfare readiness remained relevant because disruption of navigational channels or energy facilities could have substantial regional consequences.

RAVEN also supported training of future naval officers. On June 14, 2004, she operated alongside USS DEXTROUS during underway training for U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen assigned to the region for their annual summer cruise. The program exposed midshipmen to basic surface warfare operations aboard several types of ships. During this activity, a rigid-hull inflatable boat from USS BULKELEY (DDG 84) transferred personnel between ships, allowing the midshipmen to gain experience aboard the specialized mine warfare vessels.

By 2004 and 2005, the Navy was also changing the way crews were assigned to its OSPREY-class ships. RAVEN and USS CARDINAL remained physically forward deployed at Bahrain, but designated MHC crews began rotating between the Persian Gulf and ships based at Ingleside. This arrangement allowed the hulls in Bahrain to remain in theater while personnel completed deployment cycles without requiring the coastal minehunters themselves to make repeated long-distance transits between the United States and the Middle East.

This distinction between ship and crew is essential. A crew might have been associated with a different OSPREY-class hull before deploying to Bahrain and then assume responsibility for RAVEN on arrival. Conversely, a crew returning from Bahrain could take over a ship at Ingleside while RAVEN remained in the Arabian Gulf under another crew. At the beginning of 2005, MHC Crew Prestige was operating RAVEN. The ship was underway in the central Arabian Gulf from January 1 through January 7, 2005 and then returned to Mina Salman, Bahrain. She remained in port from January 7 through the end of the month and continued at Mina Salman during most of February. On February 24, RAVEN shifted to the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard in Bahrain and entered dry dock. She remained there through the end of February and into the opening days of March. This maintenance period occurred near the end of Crew Prestige's approximately six-month deployment aboard the forward-deployed minehunter.

A scheduled crew exchange followed. Crew Prestige completed its turnover of RAVEN to MHC Crew Inflict during the first week of March. Crew Prestige then returned to Texas and on March 9 assumed responsibility for USS FALCON (MHC 59) at Naval Station Ingleside. RAVEN herself remained in Bahrain under Crew Inflict. RAVEN continued Fifth Fleet operations during the summer. On July 19, 2005, she participated in Surface Action Group operations during exercise Nautical Union in the Arabian Gulf. Nautical Union was directed by Destroyer Squadron 50 and involved U.S. and regional coalition forces. The exercise included maritime security training, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, mine countermeasures, electronic warfare, replenishment at sea and command-and-control procedures.

Other U.S. ships involved in the wider exercise included USS PHILIPPINE SEA (CG 58) and USS GUNSTON HALL. RAVEN's participation demonstrated the increasingly broad employment of the Bahrain-based minehunters: although their specialist capability remained mine warfare, they also operated within wider surface formations conducting maritime security and coalition interoperability training.

Preparations for eventual disposal of the OSPREY-class were meanwhile advancing. The Naval Vessels Transfer Act of 2005 authorized the United States to transfer RAVEN and USS CARDINAL to Egypt on a grant basis. The legislation did not immediately end their U.S. service. Both ships continued operating for Fifth Fleet while the Navy prepared the vessels and future Egyptian crews for transfer.

At the beginning of February 2006, MHC Crew Force prepared to deploy from the United States. Crew Force had previously been assigned to USS CORMORANT (MHC 57) at Ingleside. From January 30 through February 3, the crew turned USS CORMORANT over to another MHC crew and then traveled commercially from the United States to Bahrain on February 6 and February 7. Crew Force began taking responsibility for RAVEN from MHC Crew Bold on February 8 and completed the turnover on February 11 at Mina Salman. The rotation was notable because Crew Force became the first mixed-gender MHC crew to deploy to the Fifth Fleet area.

The new crew immediately encountered a major technical problem. Shortly before its arrival, RAVEN had suffered a significant casualty to the AN/SQQ-32 minehunting sonar, the ship's principal sensor for her primary mission. Sonar replacement occupied February 12 through February 21. On February 22, RAVEN got underway and proceeded to the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard for assessment, returning to Mina Salman on February 24. Additional readiness assessment continued during the final days of February. RAVEN conducted a shakedown cruise in the central Arabian Gulf on March 2 and March 3 after the repairs and was underway again on March 8. These events established that the incoming crew and repaired ship could resume operational tasking.

RAVEN subsequently moved to the northern Arabian Gulf for oil-platform security operations from March 12 through March 17, 2006. Protection of the Iraqi offshore oil infrastructure had become an established Fifth Fleet mission following Operation Iraqi Freedom because the platforms and associated terminals were economically important and had previously been threatened by maritime attacks. On March 18, RAVEN conducted a replenishment at sea with USNS RAINIER (T-AOE 7). She then resumed northern Arabian Gulf oil-platform security operations from March 19 through March 21.

From March 22 through March 25, RAVEN operated in the central Arabian Gulf during Operation United River Dragon. Her task included querying inbound and outbound vessels operating around Iraqi territorial waters and contributing the resulting information to the broader maritime picture. The activity formed part of continuing maritime security operations intended to provide naval commanders with a clearer understanding of commercial and other vessel traffic in the region.

RAVEN returned to Bahrain on March 26 and underwent a safety survey on March 27. She remained at Mina Salman through the end of March before returning to sea on April 1 for the semiannual Find A Way Or Make One Exercise. The exercise, named for the motto used by Mine Countermeasures Division 31, tested mine warfare procedures and policies applicable to operations in the Fifth Fleet area. RAVEN remained involved through April 3 and conducted replenishment-at-sea activity on April 4.

During the deployment, Crew Force also hosted Egyptian naval personnel aboard RAVEN. The visit was connected with the approved Foreign Military Sales transfer of the OSPREY-class ships and gave the future operators an opportunity to observe the ship, its systems and normal operating procedures while it remained in U.S. service. Such familiarization became increasingly important as the planned transfer date approached.

Crew Force continued operating RAVEN through the first half of 2006. In August, the Navy conducted another scheduled crew exchange. MHC Crew Detector had spent the preceding months operating USS KINGFISHER (MHC 56) from Ingleside. Crew Detector embarked in RAVEN on August 4 and completed the turnover with Crew Force on August 7. Again, the crews changed while the RAVEN hull remained continuously based in Bahrain.

The new crew immediately began restoring its own operational proficiency aboard the unfamiliar hull. Designated magnetic material was offloaded on August 15 and August 16 in preparation for signature testing. On August 17 and August 18, RAVEN operated on the Forward Area Combined Degaussing Acoustic Range in Bahrain Harbor. Sensors installed on the seabed measured the ship's magnetic and acoustic characteristics, allowing technicians to adjust the degaussing system and minimize the signatures that could activate influence mines.

From August 24 through August 30, RAVEN conducted unit-level training in the southern Arabian Gulf. The evolutions familiarized Crew Detector with the ship and prepared it for operational Fifth Fleet tasking. RAVEN departed Bahrain for Mina Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates at the beginning of September and remained there from September 1 through September 5. The visit near Dubai allowed the ship to receive stores and fuel and provided liberty for the crew. After departing Jebel Ali, RAVEN began Q-route survey operations in the southern Arabian Gulf on September 6. Using the AN/SQQ-32 sonar and AN/SLQ-48 Mine Neutralization Vehicle, the ship surveyed a designated route intended to be available for naval use during a future mine threat. Maintaining current information on bottom conditions and known mine-like objects along such routes reduced the amount of uncertainty that mine countermeasures forces would face during an actual emergency.

The survey was scheduled to continue through September 15 but was interrupted by an engineering casualty on September 13. While RAVEN was returning toward Bahrain following the casualty, the crew encountered an Iranian-flagged fishing dhow whose occupants were attempting to attract the ship's attention. The fishermen reported that one of their crew members was unconscious. RAVEN dispatched a rigid-hull inflatable boat carrying a boarding team and the ship's independent duty corpsman. The patient was diagnosed with severe dehydration and was treated with intravenous saline. He regained consciousness after treatment. Several other fishermen were also suffering from dehydration or minor ailments and received medical assistance. The boarding team additionally discovered that the dhow was critically short of drinking water and remained several days from port. RAVEN therefore transferred approximately 200 gallons of potable water to the fishing vessel and supplied ten cases of bottled water. The encounter took place while U.S.-Iranian political relations remained strained and while RAVEN was conducting Fifth Fleet maritime security operations, but the response was treated as a maritime assistance case based on the medical emergency aboard the civilian vessel.

RAVEN returned to mine warfare training in October. From October 1 through October 13, she participated in Find A Way Or Make One Exercise 07-1. During the exercise, the ship conducted two live-fire mine-neutralization events. A Mission Package 1 was employed against a moored mine shape, while a Mission Package 2 was used against a bottom mine shape. The evolutions provided practical end-to-end training in the detection, classification and neutralization sequence that formed the central mission of the ship.

RAVEN's final operational deployment began at short notice on November 1, 2006, when she was assigned to Operation Khaliji. Through November 13, the ship patrolled designated areas and collected information on maritime traffic. The resulting data contributed to the recognized maritime picture used by higher command authorities for regional maritime security operations. After completing Operation Khaliji, RAVEN's active operational career came to an end. On November 17, she formally stood down from operational tasking in preparation for decommissioning and transfer to the Egyptian Navy.

A pre-decommissioning availability began the same day and continued through December 18. Unlike a conventional deactivation in which a ship was stripped before entering reserve status, RAVEN was being prepared for a direct or "hot" transfer to another navy. Equipment and supplies that were authorized for transfer were therefore left aboard and maintained in operating condition. Items that were not releasable were removed either for use by other U.S. units in Bahrain or for shipment back to the United States. Classified documents and material were removed or destroyed before the transfer.

The incoming Egyptian Navy crew arrived in Bahrain on December 18, 2006. From that date, MHC Crew Detector concentrated on training the Egyptian sailors and turning over every major element of shipboard operation. Equipment was operated and checked jointly, deficiencies were corrected where possible and the Egyptian crew gradually assumed a greater share of routine shiphandling and system operation.

Practical underway training was conducted on December 27, December 28, December 30 and December 31, 2006. The program continued into January with additional underway days on January 3, January 4 and January 5, 2007. During each successive period at sea, the Egyptian crew assumed greater responsibility while the American crew increasingly shifted to an observing and advisory role. By the end of the training period, the operation of RAVEN and her equipment had been turned over to the Egyptian personnel.

On January 7, 2007, RAVEN was decommissioned during a small ceremony in Bahrain and simultaneously struck from the Naval Vessel Register. Her transfer to Egypt was completed the same day under the previously authorized naval-vessel-transfer program. Immediately after the U.S. decommissioning, the former RAVEN was commissioned into the Egyptian Navy as EL FAROUK.

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