USS Brewton

	USS Brewton (FF-1086)
History
United States
Name	Brewton
Namesake	Lt. John Brewton
Ordered	25 August 1966
Builder	Avondale Shipyard, Westwego, Louisiana
Laid down	2 October 1970
Launched	24 July 1971
Acquired	18 June 1972
Commissioned	8 July 1972
Decommissioned	2 July 1992
Stricken	11 January 1995
Motto	Dedicated, Determined, Prepared
Fate	Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, cash sale, ex-US fleet hull foreign military sale to Taiwan, 29 September 1999
Status	In active service.
General characteristics
Class and type	Knox-class frigate
Displacement	3,204 tons (4,184 full load)
Length	438 ft (134 m)
Beam	46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Draught	24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
Propulsion	2 × CE 1200psi boilers; 1 Westinghouse geared turbine; 1 shaft, 35,000 shp (26 MW);
Speed	over 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement	18 officers, 267 enlisted
Sensors and ; processing systems	AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar; AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar; AN/SQS-26 Sonar; AN/SQR-18 Towed array sonar system; Mk68 Gun Fire Control System;
Electronic warfare ; & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System
Armament	one Mk-16 8 cell missile launcher for ASROC and Harpoon missiles; one Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber gun; Mark 46 torpedoes from four single tube launchers); one Phalanx CIWS;
Aircraft carried	one SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter

USS Brewton (FF-1086) is a Knox-class frigate of the United States Navy and the first ship of her name. She is currently in service with the Republic of China Navy as the ROCS Fong Yang (FFG-933).

Design and description[edit]

The Knox class design was derived from the Brooke-class frigate modified to extend range and without a long-range missile system. The ships had an overall length of 438 feet (133.5 m), a beam of 47 feet (14.3 m) and a draft of 25 feet (7.6 m). They displaced 4,066 long tons (4,131 t) at full load. Their crew consisted of 13 officers and 211 enlisted men.^[1]

The ships were equipped with one Westinghouse geared steam turbine that drove the single propeller shaft. The turbine was designed to produce 35,000 shaft horsepower (26,000 kW), using steam provided by 2 C-E boilers, to reach the designed speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). The Knox class had a range of 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).^[2]

The Knox-class ships were armed with a 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun forward and a single 3"/50 caliber gun aft. They mounted an eight-round ASROC launcher between the 5-inch (127 mm) gun and the bridge. Close-range anti-submarine defense was provided by two twin 12.75-inch (324 mm) Mk 32 torpedo tubes. The ships were equipped with a torpedo-carrying DASH drone helicopter; its telescoping hangar and landing pad were positioned amidships aft of the mack. Beginning in the 1970s, the DASH was replaced by a SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I helicopter and the hangar and landing deck were accordingly enlarged. Most ships also had the 3-inch (76 mm) gun replaced by an eight-cell BPDMS missile launcher in the early 1970s.^[3]

Construction and career[edit]

US service[edit]

Brewton was launched 24 July 1971 and commissioned on 8 July 1972 and assigned to Destroyer Squadron 33 at Pearl Harbor.

The body of the Vietnam Unknown Soldier was transported aboard Brewton to Naval Air Station Alameda, California in May 1984. The remains were then sent to Travis Air Force Base, California, 24 May. The Vietnam Unknown arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, the next day.

She was decommissioned on 2 July 1992 at Naval Station Pearl Harbor after over 20 years of service, and struck from the Naval Register on 11 January 1995.

Taiwanese service[edit]

On 29 September 1999, she was sold to Taiwan under the Security Assistance Program, where she was renamed ROCS Fong Yang (FFG-933). She held a foreign sonar contact for 16 hours off of Taiwan's east coast.^[4] She is currently in active service.

Ship awards[edit]

National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star
Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ 1 star
Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon w/ 1 star
Humanitarian Service Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
Navy Battle "E" Ribbon

Notes[edit]

^ Friedman, pp. 357–60, 425
^ Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
^ Friedman, pp. 360–61; Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
^ Lundquist, Edward H. "Interview with Adm. Richard Chen, Republic of China Navy (Ret.)". defensemedianetwork.com. Defense Media Network. Retrieved 8 August 2019.

References[edit]

Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-733-X.
Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen & Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.

External links[edit]

[1] Friedman, pp. 357–60, 425

[g8-2] Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598

[3] Friedman, pp. 360–61; Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598

[Defense_Media_Network-4] Lundquist, Edward H. "Interview with Adm. Richard Chen, Republic of China Navy (Ret.)". defensemedianetwork.com. Defense Media Network. Retrieved 8 August 2019.

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