Launching Ceremony For MCM-14 "Chief" At Peterson Builders, Inc.
June 12, 1993 marked the christening and launching of the 224-foot wooden MCM-14 Mine Countermeasure Ship "Chief' at the yard of Peterson Builders, Inc., Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
Sponsor of the ship, Susan Walker Bushey, christened the ship "Chief." Her daughter, Terry Bushey Collister, assisted her as Matron of Honor.
Radm. R. D. Williams III, Program Executive Officer for Mine Warfare, Washington, D.C., delivered the keynote address.
Captain Daniel R. Welch, USN, Sturgeon Bay supervisor of shipbuilding, was also a speaker and Ellsworth L. Peterson, president of Peterson Builders, gave the welcome address. Richard Russell, PBI vice president of manufacturing, introduced the Sponsor of the ship.
Rev. Matthew Knapp, Moravian Church of Sturgeon Bay, gave the invocation at the ceremony.
Chief is the last of 11 MCM ships contracted with the U.S. Navy to be launched at PBI.
Peterson Builders is one of the few remaining shipyards with the expertise, facilities and knowledge to construct large wooden ships today. PBI is entering its fifth decade of minecraft ship construction and has built minecraft for thirteen different navies around the world.
The mine countermeasure ships accommodate a crew of 81, and are the Navy's largest wooden-hulled ship.
A wide variety of special skills, equipment and materials are utilized in laminating the ship's major structure from large timbers of Douglas fir, White oak and Alaskan cedar.
The MCM incorporates modern mine countermeasure technology into a specially designed platform which includes low magnetic signature diesel engines, a precise electronic navigation system, a minehunting and classification sonar, and a mine neutralization system.
Overall length of the MCM ships is 224 feet. Draft is 11 feet and beam measures 39 feet.
Full load displacement of the ships is 1,250 tons. The MCM is powered by four diesel engines rated at 600- Dignitaries, from leftto right: Ellsworth L. Peterson, President, PBI; Terry Bushey Collister, Matron of Honor; Radm. R. D. Williams, III, USN, Keynote Speaker; and Susan Walker Bushey, Sponsor. hp per unit. They are equipped with a 350-hp bow thruster, and electric power is furnished by three 60 hZ, 375 kW generators.
Eight ships of the MCM-1 Class have been delivered and three remain under construction at Peterson Builders.
In addition to the MCMs, PBI has contracts with the U.S. Navy for five 51-foot PCFs (Patrol Craft Fast) and seven 36-foot LCPLs (Landing Craft Personnel Large).
The company also received a contract for the mid-life conversion and repair of the R/V Endeavor for the State of Rhode Island.
This ship was originally built at PBI in 1975. Also in for repair is the USCGC Sundew.
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