The U.S. Navy once had 14 Avenger-class minesweepers. Today only 4 are left — all based in Sasebo, Japan — and 2 of them had to sail roughly 6,500 miles to the Strait of Hormuz after Iran started laying mines.
In September 2025, the Navy retired its last four minesweepers in Bahrain and shipped them home on a heavy-lift ship in January 2026. Just weeks later, the war with Iran began. In this video, we follow USS Chief and USS Pioneer on their journey from Japan to Hormuz, including a strange stop in Phuket, Thailand.
We also look at why a mine that cost about $1,500 caused $90 million in damage to USS Samuel B. Roberts in 1988, and how USS Tripoli and USS Princeton both hit mines on the same morning in 1991. You'll see why the Avenger class is built from wood, and exactly how the Navy finds, identifies and destroys a sea mine — with sonar, remote-controlled robots, Explosive Ordnance Disposal divers, MH-60S Seahawk helicopters and machine guns.
Source: The Navy Channel
