Decommissioned Avengers Leave Bahrain as Navy Shifts Mine-Countermeasures to LCS

Four decommissioned Avenger-class mine countermeasures ships—Devastator, Dextrous, Gladiator and Sentry—were loaded onto the M/V Seaway Hawk in Bahrain and are bound for Philadelphia for dismantling, as the Navy completes its transition of mine-countermeasures duties to Independence-class Littoral Combat Ships; the move reflects a broader shift away from legacy Avengers despite ongoing questions about LCS capabilities, with regional stakes in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.