The ship's mission was to clear harbor, coastal, and ocean waters of acoustic, magnetic and pressure/contact type mines utilizing reconnaissance, classification and neutralization tactics.

Black Hawk's keel was laid on September 3, 1992 and her christening and launching was on August 27, 1994 at Intermarine USA Corporation, Savannah, Georgia.

USS Black Hawk (MHC-58) was commissioned in ceremonies held on May 11, 1996, at Pier Two at the Naval Education Training Center, Newport, R.I.

The paddle wheel further simulates a maritime compass suggesting leadership, guidance and alludes to navigation and the far reaching scope and mission of the past and present USS Black Hawk.

On the ship's crest, the waves of the sea denote the coastal waters, harbors, waterways and Navy theater of operations.

The second Black Hawk was commissioned 16 May 1918, and assigned as tender and flagship to the Mine Force in Inverness, Scotland from June 1918 until the end of World War I, when her base was shifted to the North Sea.