The US Navy recently decommissioned three of its Avenger-class mine countermeasures (MCM) vessels in separate ceremonies at Naval Base San Diego.
USS Champion (pictured), USS Scout, and USS Ardent will have their MCM mission taken over by the navy's Freedom-class and Independence-class littoral combat ships (LCS).
The retirement of the three ships reduces the number of active Avenger-class MCM vessels to eight. All are currently forward deployed in Bahrain and Japan.
