Four U.S. Navy vessels, long counted on to suss out mines planted in Middle East waters, were bound for Philadelphia last week following their recent decommissioning \u2014 even as the U.S. war with Iran shows no signs of abating. <\/p>\n
A U.S. Navy official confirmed that the Avenger-class ships \u2014 the USS Devastator, USS Dextrous, USS Gladiator, and USS Sentry \u2014 were en route to Philly last week, where they would \u201ccontinue onwards in the inactivation process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The timing of the ships\u2019 Philadelphia arrival coincides with the escalation of the war in Iran, in which the Strait of Hormuz \u2014 through which roughly one-fifth of the world\u2019s oil flows \u2014 has become a focal point. <\/p>\n
The New York Times, citing U.S. officials, reported last week that Iran had begun using smaller boats to mine<\/a> the waters of the strait in an effort to stall travel through the waterway, while CNN reported that Iran boasted the capability to lay \u201chundreds\u201d<\/a> of mines in the strait. <\/p>\n Replacing the ships<\/p>\n For decades, the U.S. had relied on the four recently decommissioned ships to suss out such devices. <\/p>\n In a September 2025 news release announcing the decommissioning of the vessels, the Navy said the ships had for years been a vital form of defense, using \u201csonar and video systems, cable cutters and a mine detonating device that could be released and detonated by remote control,\u201d according to the Navy. They were also capable of conventional mine sweeping measures. <\/p>\n \u201cFor more than three decades, USS Devastator, USS Dextrous, USS Gladiator and USS Sentry have been critical to maritime missions around the globe,\u201d said U.S. Navy Vice Adm. George Wikoff in a statement last September.<\/p>\n Today, just four of the mine countermeasures ships \u2014 or MCMs \u2014 remain in use. All are currently stationed in Sasebo, Japan. <\/p>\n According to last year\u2019s release, the four decommissioned ships were slated to be replaced by four littoral combat ships \u2014 or LCSs. <\/p>\n \u201cThe Navy\u2019s current primary surface platform for executing counter-mine warfare operations is the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) equipped with the mine countermeasures mission package,\u201d a Navy official said in an email. \u201cThe MCM mission package is a sophisticated suite of manned and unmanned systems designed to locate, identify, and neutralize seamines, at a safer distance from minefields than the Avenger-class MCMs.\u201d<\/p>\n Last week, however, The Independent reported that the LCS program has been beset by issues<\/a>, including budgetary overruns and concerns over the LCS vessels\u2019 ability to perform in combat situations. <\/p>\n What\u2019s more, it\u2019s unclear how many of the newer vessels have been deployed to the Middle East to replace those taken out of commission. <\/p>\n The Navy said last year that the USS Canberra had arrived in Bahrain last May, but a Navy official last week declined to say whether the other three LCS vessels had arrived in the Middle East \u2014 referring a reporter to the public affairs office for U.S. Central Command. <\/p>\n An email sent to that office\u2019s media relations office Monday referred a reporter back to the Navy\u2019s press office, which did not immediately respond to follow-up questions.<\/p>\n Next steps in the war<\/p>\n The U.S. Central Command said in a social media post<\/a> March 10 that U.S. forces had eliminated 16 Iranian minelaying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz. <\/p>\n In recent days, meanwhile, President Donald Trump<\/a> has made a number of public statements about the strait, in which he has downplayed threats even as he issued a scathing warning. <\/p>\n