The Osprey-class coastal minehunter is a naval ship designed to locate and destroy dangerous mines found in waterways around the world.

Sonar and Video
The Osprey-class naval ships use sonar and video to detect mines that have been moored or placed at the bottom of waterways. Underwater mines can detonate and destroy military or civilian ships that pass over them. The minehunter ships use cable cutters and remote controlled detonators to neutralize the mines.

The Osprey-class naval ship is the second largest minehunter ship in the world.The largest minehunter vessel is the Hunt-class ship that is operated by Britain’s Royal Navy. In total, the U.S. Navy acquired 12 minehunter ships, which were developed by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in New Orleans, Louisiana. The minehunter ships were commissioned by the U.S. Navy during the 1990s. Each minehunter was named after a type of bird.

Beginning in 2006, the U.S. Navy decommissioned its Osprey-class minehunter ships and began selling the vessels to foreign militaries in Greece, Egypt, Turkey, Taiwan and India. As of 2011, these countries were still using the Osprey-class minehunter ships to locate and neutralize underwater mines found in harbours and coastal waterways.   

Surviving Underwater Explosions
The Osprey-class ships have been built using fibreglass, which helps them withstand potentially devastating underwater explosions. The minehunter ships are used for several missions in addition to neutralizing mines, including intelligence, reconnaissance and classification missions. Each ship has high definition cameras and state-of-the art sonar to detect mines. The ships also deploy remote controlled submarines to travel to mine locations and destroy the weapons.

Each Osprey-class minehunter ship weighs almost 900 tons and has a crew of 50 people – officers and enlisted personnel. Each ship is 200 feet long and can operate at sea for a total of 15 days before needing replenishment. The Osprey-class ships are equipped with 50 caliber machine guns for defense purposes.