Mühlhausen was a naval ship

Naval ship

A naval ship is a ship used for combat purposes, commonly by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose...

 in service with the German Navy

German Navy

The German Navy is the navy of Germany and is part of the unified Bundeswehr .The German Navy traces its roots back to the Imperial Fleet of the revolutionary era of 1848 – 52 and more directly to the Prussian Navy, which later evolved into the Northern German Federal Navy...

. The ship was launched June 30, 1966 at the Burmester Werft in Bremen with the name Walther von Ledebur. She was a prototype of a new class of ocean-going minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

s, which however was not accepted by the Bundesmarine. She was commissioned in 1967 and served with a civilian crew as a trials ship for the Wehrtechnische Dienststelle (Defence Technology Agency) until decommissioning in 1994. She had the pennant number

Pennant number

In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...

 A1410 and was categorized as a Type 742 class ship.

After her decommissioning the German Navy decided to convert her into a training and support vessel for mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

-clearing divers. The rebuilding was done at the Peene-Werft shipyard in Wolgast

Wolgast

Wolgast is a town in the district of Vorpommern-Greifswald, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the bank of the river Peenestrom, vis-a-vis the island of Usedom that can be accessed by road and railway via a bascule bridge...

 and on April 6, 1995 she was recommissioned as Mühlhausen (M1052) and classified as Type 742A ship.

After forty years in service, the Mühlhausen was decommissioned in 2007 and was replaced by the converted Frankenthal class mine hunter

Frankenthal class mine hunter

The Type 332 Frankenthal class mine hunter is a class of German mine hunters. The ships are built of non-magnetic steel. Hull, machinery and superstructure of this class is similar to the original Type 343 Hameln class minesweeper, but the equipment differs....

 Rottweil.

At the time of her decommissioning, Mühlhausen was the largest naval ship still in service with a hull made of glued laminated timber

Glued laminated timber

Glued laminated timber, also called Glulam, is a type of structural timber product composed of several layers of dimensioned timber bonded together with durable, moisture-resistant adhesives. This material is called 'laminating stock' or lamstock for short.By laminating several smaller pieces of...

 (mahogany

Mahogany

The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....

).