USS Pioneer (MCM-9)

	USS Pioneer at Fleet Week in San Francisco in October 2010
History
United States
Name	USS Pioneer
Builder	Peterson Builders Inc., Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Laid down	5 June 1989
Launched	25 August 1990
Acquired	14 August 1990
Commissioned	7 December 1992
Homeport	United States Fleet Activities Sasebo, Japan
Motto	Praecursor Pro Libertate; ("Pioneer for Freedom");
Nickname(s)	The Mighty Nine
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	mine countermeasures ship
Displacement	1,367 long tons (1,389 t)
Length	224 ft (68 m) o/a
Beam	39 ft (12 m)
Draft	13 ft (4.0 m)
Propulsion	4 × Isotta-Fraschini austenitic steel non-magnetic diesel engines; 2 × controllable/reversible pitch propellers; 2 × rudders; 2 × light-load electric motors;
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement	6 officers and 75 enlisted
Sensors and ; processing systems	AN/SLQ-48 (V) Mine Neutralization System; AN/SQL-37 (V) 3 Magnetic/Acoustic Influence Minesweeping Gear; Oropesa type 0 size 1 Mechanical Sweep Equipment; MDG 1701 Marconi Magnetometer Degaussing System;
Electronic warfare ; & decoys	AN/SSN-2 Precise Integrated Navigation System (PINS); AN/SQQ-32 Mine-hunting sonar; AN/SPS-55 Surface Radar; AN/WSN-2 Gyro Compass;
Armament	2 × Double M2 Browning .50-cal machine guns; 2 × M60 7.62 mm machine guns; 2 × Mk 19 grenade launchers;

USS Pioneer (MCM-9), an

mine countermeasures ship of the United States Navy

, and is the ninth ship of the class, and the second Navy ship of that name.

Pioneer was laid down by Peterson Builders, Inc.,

christened the ship on 25 August 1990. Construction and fitting out progressed on schedule and, on 14 August 1990, Lieutenant Commander Jerald Tyler Ballance, USNR, accepted Pioneer on behalf of the Navy from Mr. Ellsworth Peterson of Peterson Builders. Pioneer began her commissioned service on 1 September 1992 and, after completing initial crew training, sailed to her new homeport of NS Ingleside, Texas. Pioneer was formally commissioned on 7 December 1992, a tribute to the many U.S. servicemen who had served at Pearl Harbor

.

Service history

In January 1993, Pioneer began an intense shakedown year filled with numerous evaluations, training periods, exercises, and inspections. These included the first major mine warfare exercise in the western

Port Everglades, Florida, an Operational Propulsion Plant Examination, Combat Systems Qualification and Testing in Panama City, Florida

, mine sweeping performance trials, Final Contract Trials, and a Logistic Management Assessment. For the remainder of 1993 and throughout 1994, Pioneer continued her aggressive training cycle and conducted post-shakedown maintenance, repairs, and pre-deployment exercises.

In February 1995, Pioneer set sail for Europe on her maiden cruise. During this deployment, Pioneer participated in Exercise Blue Harrier '95 and visited

V-E day

. She returned to Ingleside in August and, after a well-deserved break, began her next training cycle.

In January 1996, Pioneer joined Warrior, Gladiator, and Chief as a training ship for the Mine Force's Rotational Crews. For the next four years, the Navy's eight Mine Countermeasures Rotational Crews conducted their pre-deployment training in these Ingleside-based ships before completing a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf in Ardent or Dextrous. But by early 2000, the Navy no longer manned its forward-deployed MCM ships with rotational crews, and on 20 January 2000, the remaining members of MCM Rotational Crew BRAVO embarked in Pioneer—a ship they knew well—as her permanent crew. Pioneer now serves in Mine Countermeasures Squadron 1 (MCMRon 1), the squadron responsible for planning and overseeing the Navy's Mine Countermeasures operations in the Western Pacific.

The crew moved aboard and quickly made the ship their home by resealing decks, painting, and generally taking ownership. Along with this came a plethora of repairs and upgrades, which increased Pioneer's material readiness. Pioneer then completed a successful CART II and N43 visit and made its way to Panama City, Florida for a Squadron 1 exercise. En route to this exercise, LCDR Samuel Norton relieved CDR Clay Harris as Commanding Officer of Pioneer. The crew remained focussed and performed admirably during the Mine Warfare Exercise. Following a brief port visit to

Explosive Ordnance Disposal

Mobile Unit 3's Detachment 15 aided Pioneer in this task.

Pioneer then prepared to make its first extended underway period with a permanent crew since 1995. On 12 September 2000 Pioneer set off for

Navy Days, its first stop on an East Coast cruise. During this period Pioneer participated in Unified Spirit 2000, a multi-national exercise off the coast of North Carolina

. Pioneer again identified and neutralized its fair share of mines, aided by members of Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic 8, a Canadian Explosive Ordnance Disposal dive team. The crew worked well with the divers, and claimed a few victories with its Mine Neutralization Vehicle, performing the first live activation of a Mission Package One cutter arm since USS Pioneer gained its permanent crew, bringing a moored mine safely to the surface and completing the neutralization and recovery.

Pioneer then began her journey back to homeport, stopping again in

Navy League

and the people of Mobile as a whole. Pioneer bid Mobile a fond farewell as she traveled to Ingleside, Texas returning on 15 December 2000.

Following the landfall of

shipping lanes off the coast of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. The ship and crew, MCM Crew Exultant, were awarded the Humanitarian Service Medal

for their work during the operation.

Service history

External links