Tag Archives: FFG7

Hermes, Clamagore, and Newcastle to be no more

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Lots of changes among the world’s floating museum ships and those otherwise long in the tooth this week.

Hermes/Viraat

Centaur-class aircraft carrier HMS Hermes (R12) bouncing around the North Atlantic with her bow mostly out of the water, 1977.

Laid down at Vickers-Armstrong on 21 June 1944, two weeks after the Allies stormed ashore at D-Day, as HMS Elephant, the RN carrier HMS Hermes only joined the fleet on 18 November 1959 (after 15 years at the builders) with a much-altered plan that included an angled flight deck to allow the operation of jet-powered aircraft at sea. After legendary Cold War service and a pivotal part in the Falklands War in 1982, she was sold to India in 1987 and took the name INS Viraat (R22) and, homeported in Mumbai, served the Indian Navy for three more decades, undergoing a further five refits while in Indian service.

The last British-built ship serving the Indian Navy, Viraat was the star attraction at the International Fleet Review held in Visakhapatnam in February 2016. Her last Sea Harrier, (White Tigers in Indian service), flew from her deck on May 6, of that year and was given a formal farewell at INS Hansa, in Goa two days later. She was to be preserved as a floating museum, commemorating an amazing career.

Fast forward three years and this is not to be. Deli announced this week that she will soon be scrapped.

Clamagore

In formation on 18 April 1966. The boats seen are: USS BLENNY (SS-324), CLAMAGORE (SS-343), COBBLER (SS-344), and CORPORAL (SS-346)

Subron-21’s GUPPY IIIs in formation on 18 April 1966. The boats seen are: USS BLENNY (SS-324), CLAMAGORE (SS-343), COBBLER (SS-344), and CORPORAL (SS-346)

The submarine USS Clamagore (SS-343), a Balao-class 311-foot “fleet boat” of the type that crushed the Japanese merchant fleet during WWII, commissioned on 28 June 1945– just narrowly too late for the war. However, her Naval service was rich, being converted to a GUPPY II snorkel boat in 1947 and later GUPPY III in 1962– one of only a handful to get the latter upgrade.

Decommissioned in 1973, the boat was still in pretty good shape when she was donated at age 36 to become a museum ship at Patriot’s Point, South Carolina where she has been since 1981, near the WWII carrier USS Yorktown.

The Clamagore (SS-343) being brought to Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, Charleston, SC. 1981. Courtesy Tommy Trapp via Navsource

The Clamagore (SS-343) being brought to Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, Charleston, SC. 1981. Courtesy Tommy Trapp via Navsource

Now, she is suffering from extensive decay and, although a group of subvets is trying to save her (and taking the state to court) Palmetto State lawmakers have voted to spend $2.7 million in public dollars to sink the Cold War-era submarine off South Carolina’s shores.

Newcastle

To replace their aging Adams (Perth)-class DDGs, the Royal Australian Navy in the 1980s ordered a six-pack of Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates. Known locally as the Adelaide (FFG01)-class in RAN service, the first four vessels were built in the U.S. at Todd in Seattle, while last two were constructed by AMECON of Williamstown, Victoria.

Besides the names of large Australian cities, the vessels carried the names of past RAN vessels including two HMS/HMAS Sydney’s that fought in WWI and WWII, and Oz’s two aircraft carriers.

Photo by ABPH Tracey Casteleijn/RAN/ #950365-10

Photo by ABPH Tracey Casteleijn/RAN/ #950365-10

Canberra and Adelaide were paid off in 2005 and 2008 respectively, then sunk as dive wrecks. Sydney struck in 2015 and began scrapping soon after, while Darwin was broken up in 2017. Melbourne and Newcastle were to stick it out until the new Hobart-class destroyers arrive to replace them by 2019.

With that, HMAS Newcastle (FFG06), was put to pasture this week after she traveled more than 900,000 nautical miles, visited over 30 countries, conducted six maritime security operations and earned battle honors in East Timor, the Persian Gulf, and the Middle East.

Lieutenant Commander Nick Graney salutes during the national anthem as part of HMAS Newcastle’s decommissioning ceremony at Fleet Base East, Sydney on Sunday 30th June 2019.

Lieutenant Commander Nick Graney, RAN, salutes during the national anthem as part of HMAS Newcastle’s decommissioning ceremony at Fleet Base East, Sydney on Sunday 30th June 2019.

The final Australian FFG, Melbourne (FFG05), is set to be decommissioned 26 Oct 2019 and, like Newcastle, will be sold to Chile to begin a second career on the other end of the Pacific. Should that somehow fall through, the Hellenic Navy has also expressed interest in acquiring these classic but hard-used Perries.

And the beat goes on…

Bad news for FFG7 fans out there

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150417-N-SV210-036 SAN DIEGO (April 17, 2015) The guided-missile frigate USS Gary (FFG 51) arrives at Naval Base San Diego after completing its final deployment before decommissioning. During the seven-month deployment, Gary operated in the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet and U.S. 3rd Fleet areas of operations and played an integral role in Operation Martillo. (U.S. Navy photo by Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Donnie W. Ryan/Released)

It looks like the CNO looked at it and decided the “Ghetto Navy” is best left out to pasture.

It’s a common theme in bringing back high-mileage warships like the neutered FFG-7 class from mothballs. They were typically rode hard and put up wet. For example, when SECNAV John “600-ship Navy” Lehman went to look at the old carrier USS Oriskany in 1981 with an eye to putting her back into use after a four-year layup, she had grass and even small trees growing on her decks and was too far gone for Congress to okay the millions needed to get her back into the fold.

From Defense News:

The Navy estimates that bringing back 10 of the Perry-class frigates would cost in excess of $4.32 billion over 10 years, and take away from money needed to modernize the Navy’s existing cruisers and destroyers. In return, the Navy would get a relatively toothless ship only suitable for very low-end missions such as counter-drug operations.

“With obsolete combat systems and aging hulls, these vessels would require significant upgrades to remain warfighting relevant for another decade,” the document reads. “Any potential return on investment would be offset by high reactivation and life-cycle costs, a small ship inventory, limited service life, and substantial capability gaps.

“Furthermore, absent any external source of funding, these costs would likely come at the expense of other readiness, modernization or shipbuilding programs.”

The rest here.

Canadian whisky in U.S-built FFG recovered in Oz

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To replace their aging Adams (Perth)-class DDGs, the Royal Australian Navy in the 1980s ordered a six-pack of Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates. Known as the Adelaide-class in RAN service, the first four vessels were built in the U.S. at Todd in Seattle, while last two were constructed by AMECON of Williamstown, Victoria.

Besides the names of large Australian cities, the vessels carry the names of past RAN vessels including two HMS/HMAS Sydney’s that fought in WWI and WWII, and Oz’s two aircraft carriers.

Canberra and Adelaide were paid off in 2005 and 2008 respectively, then sunk as dive wrecks. Sydney struck in 2015 and began scrapping last month, while Darwin, Melbourne and Newcastle are sticking it out until the new Hobart-class destroyers arrive to replace them by 2019.

One of the Todd-built greyhounds now being dismantled, Sydney, just gave up her mini-bottle of now 41-year-old blended MacNaughton Canadian whisky, which had been wrapped in pipe insulation in the forward starboard leg of the main mast back in April 1982.

The yard got the word from the states that the bottle may still be there, and it was.

Should have been Kentucky bourbon, but hey…

Via the RAN

 

The RAN shows it can pull off a photoex in style

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Photo by ABPH Tracey Casteleijn/RAN/ #950365-10

Dig those one-armed bandits! Photo by ABPH Tracey Casteleijn/RAN/ #950365-10

Here we see the Royal Australian Navy’s FFG-7 class in toto to include HMAS Adelaide (FFG-01), Canberra, Sydney, Darwin, Melbourne and Newcastle during Exercise Kakadu in 1995. With a beam of 45 feet on each of those hulls, it wouldn’t surprise me if this near-perfectly aligned six-pack of greyhounds are in a space about 500 feet wide from the portside of Adelaide to the starboard of Newcastle.

Besides the names of large Australian cities, the vessels carry the names of past RAN vessels including two HMS/HMAS Sydney’s that fought in WWI and WWII, and Oz’s two aircraft carriers.

Known as the Adelaide-class in RAN service, the first four vessels were built in the U.S. at Todd in Seattle, while last two were constructed by AMECON of Williamstown, Victoria, to replace aging Adams (Perth)-class DDGs.

Canberra and Adelaide were paid off in 2005 and 2008 respectively, then sunk as dive wrecks. Sydney struck in 2015 and began scrapping last month, while Darwin, Melbourne and Newcastle are sticking it out until the new Hobart-class destroyers arrive to replace them by 2019.

The Polish Navy, who operate two former USN FFG7s still with single-arm Mk 13 missile launchers (ORP Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko, ex-USS Wadsworth (FFG-9) and ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski, ex-USS Clark (FFG-11)), has expressed interest in picking up the last remaining ships for operational use.

Maybe they can recreate the above image in the Baltic in 2020?

 

The Ghetto Navy

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Philip Ewing at DODBuzz has a great piece  about the Oliver Hazard Perry class (FFG-7) frigates left around since the Carter/Regan era. The U.S. Navy commissioned 51 FFG-7 class frigates between 1977 and 1989. As of early 2011, 27 long-hull Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates remain in active service. Of these, 19 ships are in regular service, while eight ships are in active service with the Naval Reserve Force. They are the oldest non-carrier surface combatants in the US fleet and are all set to be replaced by 2019.

The now 23-year old USS Ingram is the youngest of the FFG-7 Figs left in the Navy’s inventory. It will be the last. Since the Navy removed the Mk13 SAM system and harpoons from the class post-1989, their armament is simply a 76mm cannon, a 20mm CIWS, ASW torpedo tubes, and balls.

“The life of a frigate sailor in the U.S. Navy doesn’t look much like what you see in the recruiting commercials.

As described by Navy Times’ senior writer Mark D. Faram, the crew of the frigate USS Elrod struggles constantly with breakdowns, old equipment and the limitations of a ship deliberately left out of combat relevance in the 21st century.

Plus sailors’ accommodations are cramped. Their clothes come back damp and wrinkled from the central laundry. Sometimes they shower without hot water for weeks.

The frigates, in short, are the self-described “Ghetto Navy,” the part of the surface force that makes the rest of the surface force — which has had its own maintenance, training and readiness problems — look good. But in the true spirit of the service, the crew has to look on the bright side. Everyone, starting with the ships’ chiefs, treats her or his time aboard as an experience that, as Calvin’s father might have put it, “builds character.”