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NavSource Online: Mine Warfare Ship Photo Archive
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Falcon (MHC-59)


Falcon served the Navies of the United States and the Republic of China
Osprey Class Coastal Minehunter:

  • The fifth Falcon was laid down 1 July 1993 by Intermarine USA, Savannah, GA
  • Launched 3 June 1995
  • Delivered to the Navy 14 October 1996
  • Commissioned 8 February 1997
  • Transferred to the Naval Reserve Force 26 October 1997
  • Decommissioned 30 June 2006, struck from the Navy Register and laid up in the Beaumont Reserve Fleet, Beaumont, TX
  • Sold to Taiwan 23 May 2010
  • Commissioned ROCS Yung An (MHC 1311), 10 August 2012
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 895 Metric Tons
  • Length 188'
  • Beam 36'
  • Draft (Navigation) 9' 5", Draft (Keel) 7'
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 53
  • Armament: Two .50 cal. machine guns and one man held Stinger missile launcher
  • Propulsion: Two 800hp Isotta Fraschini ID36 SS8V-AM diesel engines; two Voith Schneider vertical axis, cycloidal, controllable pitch propellers, two shafts
  • Electrical Systems: Two ship service diesel generators, one ship service/emergency diesel generator; Monocoque Design glass reinforced plastic monohull design. No longitudinal or transverse hull
    framing. The skin carries all the stresses. The vessel is flexible under shock. Machinery is supported by cradles from the main deck
  • Sensors/Navigation Systems AN/SYQ-13 Navigation, Command & Control System, AN/SPS-64(V)9 surface search radar, AN/SPA-25G radar display; AN/UQN-4A sonar sounding set, AN/WSN-2
    stabilized gyrocompass, Hyper-fix radio navigation system, Loran C, Military global positioning system (GPS), AN/BQH-7A expendable bathythermograph set
  • Mine Countermeasures Systems: AN/SLQ-48(V)2 mine neutralization system (MNS), AN/SQQ-32 minehunting sonar.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Falcon (MHC 59)
    Falcon 52k
    Namesake:

    Falcon - A longwinged hawk

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Falcon 43k Painting
    Falcon 133k U.S. Navy photo Joe Radigan
    Falcon 208k 1 June 1997
    Post launching
    Photo from Naval History and Heritage Command, Catalog No. L45-93.02.02    		 Mike Green
    Photo added 25 August 2020
    Falcon 66k c. 1999
    Key West, Florida
    Photo by Raymond L. Blazevic courtesy of Florida Keys Public Libraries    		 Robert Hurst
    Falcon 121k 4 November 2000
    The coastal mine hunter Falcon is visiting Alexandria, VA, a suburb of Washington, D.C., as part of a deployment which takes the Ingleside, TX based ship to various cities on the nation's east coast
    U.S. Navy photo 001104-N-5670G-001 by Alan P. Goldstein    		 Bill Gonyo
    Falcon 309k 4 November 2000
    Alexandria, VA
    Two sailors stand gangway watch at the foot of the brow, as the coastal minehunter Falcon, lies moored pierside at Robinson Marine Terminal South, Alexandria Waterfront, during a port visit to the Metro Washington, D.C. area
    U.S. Navy photo 001104-N-4912M-003 by Don Montgomery, USN, (Ret)    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Falcon 536k 6 November 2000
    Potomac River
    A port beam view of the Osprey-class coastal minehunter Falcon, underway on the Potomac River steaming past the Fort Washington channel marker.
    U.S. Navy photo 001104-N-4912M-006 by Don Montgomery, USN, (Ret)
    ROCS Yung An (MHC 1311)
    Falcon 184k 4 May 2013
    Zhongzheng Naval Base, Taiwan
    ROCN Yung Jin (MHC-1310), ex-Osprey MHC 55); Yung An and Wu Chang (PFG-1207)
    Photo from Wikimedia Commons    		 Joe Radigan
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Peter Joseph Fanta, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral8 February 1997 - 11 March 1998
    02LCDR Robert Patrick Irelan, USN11 March 1998 - 13 November 1999
    03LCDR James Joseph Malloy, USN - USNA Class of 1986
    Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit    		13 November 1999 - 29 June 2001
    04LCDR Dermot Paul Cashman, USN29 June 2001 - 21 February 2003
    05LCDR David T. Glenister, USN21 February 2003 - 7 October 2004
    06LCDR Robert S. Smith, Jr., USN7 October 2004 - 9 March 2005
    07LCDR James Robert Midkiff, USN - USNA Class of 1990
    Awarded two Legions of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, three Meritorious Service Medals, four Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medals and two Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medals    		9 March 2005 - 30 June 2006
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Falcon (MHC 59)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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