USS Kingfisher on the Hudson River, 2003
History
United States
Name	USS Kingfisher
Namesake	Kingfisher
Awarded	29 March 1991
Builder	Avondale Shipyards
Laid down	12 February 1993
Launched	18 June 1994
Acquired	24 July 1996
Commissioned	26 October 1996
Decommissioned	1 December 2007
Stricken	01 December 2007
Fate	Sold by U.S. General Services Administration for scrap, 08 May 2014
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Osprey-class coastal minehunter
Displacement	868 tons (light) 955 tons (full)
Length	188 ft (57 m)
Beam	36 ft (11 m)
Draft	11 ft (3.4 m)
Propulsion	Two diesels (800 hp each)
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	5 officers and 46 enlisted
Armament	Mine neutralization system & two .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns

USS Kingfisher (MHC-56) was the sixth ship of Osprey-class coastal mine hunters. She is named after the kingfisher.

Kingfisher was decommissioned in a joint ceremony along with three other Coastal Mine Hunters. She was the last Coastal Mine Hunter (MHC) in active service with the US Navy. She was transferred to a Naval Inactive Ships Storage Facility in Texas to await transfer under Foreign Military Sales. In September 2010, the US Senate had approved the sale of the ship to India along with USS Cormorant (MHC-57). This sale never happened. Stricken from the Navy list 01 December 2007, sold by U.S. General Services Administration for scrap, 08 May 2014.

References

• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
• http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NEWS/newsrf.php?newsid=13487