U.S. NAVY MINESWEEPER TO DOCK AT CAPE GIRARDEAU

The USS Black Hawk, a United States Navy Ship, will stop in Cape Girardeau for five days this month.

The minesweeper is on a Mississippi River Cruise, to promote Navy awareness in the Midwest, said Trevor Hoehne, from the local U.S. Navy Recruiting office in Cape Girardeau.

The Black Hawk's tour, which will include port visits to eight cities along the Mississippi, started recently, when the ship left its home port of Ingleside, Texas

The visit here will include tours of the ship, displays of mine neutralization equipment, and ship maneuvering demonstrations.

The Black Hawk is the eighth of 12 Osprey class ships scheduled to be built. Ships of this class are the world's largest mine hunters, constructed entirely of fiberglass.

The minesweepers are capable of performing reconnaissance, classification, and neutralization of moored and bottom mines in harbors and coastal waterways. The ship is armed with two .50 caliber machine guns; a high definition, variable depth sonar; and a remotely operated robotic submarine used to neutralize mines.

The Black Hawk is 188 feet in length, has a beam of 36 feet and displaces approximately 895 tons (fully loaded).

The ship will carry a crew of five officers and 46 enlisted personnel, and will be fully staffed for the Mississippi River Cruise.

A "minesweeper" is a ship or a helicopter that clears away or destroys naval mines.

Both varieties of minesweepers -- ship or chopper -- tow special devices that locate and remove or explodes mines found on the ocean floor.

For ocean floor sweeping, the mines use an unmanned vehicle connected by cable. Naval mines are usually anchored to the floor of a body of water. They are difficult to detect and remove.

The Black Hawk, the U.S. Navy's newest coastal mine hunter, was christened Aug. 27, 1994, at Savannah, Ga., but wasn't actually commissioned for service until 1996.

Coastal mine hunters are named for birds.

The newest Black Hawk is the third navy ship by that name. The first Black Hawk was a steamer (1862-1865), which participated in the Vicksburg campaign as part of the Mississippi Squadron during the Civil War. The second, a destroyer tender (1918-1946), served 20 years in the Far East in addition to taking part in two world wars.

The Coastal Mine Hunter Black Hawk (MHC 58) was commissioned for duty May 11, 1966 at Pier Two at the Naval Education Training Center, Newport, R.I.

The Black Hawk today will be docked at Baton Rouge, for a four-day visit. Following stops at Natchez and Vicksburg in Mississippi, the Black Hawk will pull into Memphis June 16, for six-day visit. The ship will return to Memphis in July. During the two stops there, the crew will visit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and will conduct color guard ceremonies at a Memphis Red Birds baseball.

While in Cape Girardeau, the crew will visit The Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau on June 26, its 10th anniversary.

Port visits during the tour:

* Baton Rouge, La., (2-5 June).

* Natchez, Miss. (7-10 June).

* Vicksburg, Miss. (12-15 June).

* Memphis, Tenn. (16-21 June).

* Cape Girardeau, Mo. (23-28 June).

* St. Louis, Mo. (30 June-5 July).

* Memphis (8-11 July).,

* Greenville, Miss. (13-17 July).

* New Orleans, La. (18-21 July).