View source for USS Defender

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Defender (MCM-2).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Defender'' (MCM-2) in port [[Pearl Harbor]] [[Hawaii]], 2004.
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|2008}}
|Ship name=USS ''Defender''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=1 December 1983
|Ship launched=4 April 1987
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=30 September 1989
|Ship decommissioned=1 October 2014
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport= [[United States Fleet Activities Sasebo|Sasebo]], Japan
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=In reserve in the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]] as of 2019<ref name="navsource">{{cite web |title=USS ''Defender'' |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/11/1202.htm |website=NavSource |access-date=17 July 2019}}</ref>
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge= [[File:USS Defender MCM-2 Crest.png|150px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Avenger|mine countermeasures ship|0}} [[mine countermeasures ship]]
|Ship displacement=*1,253 tons (light)
*1,367 tons (full load)
|Ship length={{convert|224|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|39|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=four Waukasha Motors Co. diesel engines, two controllable reversible pitch [[propellers]], two [[rudder]]s, two electric light load propulsion motors
|Ship speed={{convert|13.5|kn}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=8 officers, 76 enlisted
|Ship sensors=see text
|Ship EW=see text
|Ship armament=six M2HB .50 cal. [[machine guns]], four M240B 7.62mm machine guns, two Mk 19 [[grenade launchers]]
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Defender'' (MCM-2)''' was an {{sclass|Avenger|mine countermeasures ship|0}} [[mine countermeasures ship]] in the service of the [[United States Navy]]. She entered service in September 1989 and was decommissioned in October 2014.

== History ==
It was laid down on 1 December 1983 at [[Marinette Marine]] Corp., [[Marinette, Wisconsin]]; launched on 4 April 1987; and commissioned on 30 September 1989. As of 1 July 2009, she was active in Mine [[Countermeasures]] Squadron Seven, [[United States Fleet Forces Command|U.S. Pacific Fleet]], permanently forward deployed to Sasebo, Japan.

''Defender'' was decommissioned at San Diego on 1 October 2014.<ref>{{cite web |title=141001-N-VO234-037 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/compacflt/15414604022/ |website=Flickr |author=U.S. Pacific Fleet |date=October 2014 |access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref> As of 2019, she is in reserve as a part of the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]].<ref name="navsource"/>

== Systems ==

Auxiliary systems: three [[Waukesha Engines|Waukesha]] ship service [[diesel generator]] sets, one [[solar power|solar]] [[gas turbine]] [[Electric generator|generator]], one [[Bow thruster|omnithruster bow thruster system]].

[[Electronic system]]s: one AN/SSN-2 Precise Integrated [[Navigation]] System (PINS), one AN/SQQ-32 Mine Hunting [[Sonar]], one AN/SPS-55 Surface [[Radar]], one AN/WSN-7 [[Gyro compass]], Mine [[Countermeasure]] Equipment Suite, one AN/SLQ-48 (V) Mine [[Neutralization (immunology)|Neutralization]] System, one AN/SQL-37 (V) 3 [[Magnetic]]/[[Acoustic signature|Acoustic]] Influence [[Minesweeper (ship)|Minesweeping]] Gear, [[Oropesa (minesweeping)|Oropesa]] type 0 size 1 [[Machine|Mechanical]] Sweep Equipment, MDG 1701 [[Marconi Company|Marconi]] [[Magnetometer]] [[Degaussing]] System.

== Operations ==

For a review of current year-to-year operations of USS ''Defender''), including operations after [[Hurricane Katrina]], see:
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/shiphist/d/mcm2.htm Index for Histories/Command Operations Reports submitted by Defender (MCM 2)]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2005/09/sec-050910-nns04.htm Mine Warfare Ships Support Hurricane Katrina Recovery, Relief Efforts]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/news/2005/09/sec-050915-nns01.htm Defender Clears Way for Shipping off Gulf Coast (2005)]


== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{DANFS}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|USS Defender (MCM-2)}}
* [http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/mcm2 Ship's official site]
{{Marinette Marine|state=autocollapse}}
{{Avenger class mine countermeasures ship}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Defender (MCM-2)}}
[[Category:Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Marinette Marine]]
[[Category:1987 ships]]
[[Category:Minehunters of the United States]]