The Oliver Hazard Perry class is a class of guided missile frigates named after the American Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the hero of the naval Battle of Lake Erie. Also known as the Perry or FFG-7 class, the warships were designed in the United States in the mid-1970s as general-purpose escort vessels inexpensive enough to be bought in large quantities to replace World War II-era destroyers and complement 1960s-era Knox-class frigates. In Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's "high low fleet plan", the FFG-7s were the low capability ships with the Spruance-class destroyers serving as the high capability ships. Intended to protect amphibious landing forces, supply and replenishment groups, and merchant convoys from aircraft and submarines, they were also later part of battleship-centred surface action groups and aircraft carrier battle groups/strike groups. Fifty-five ships were built in the United States: 51 for the United States Navy and four for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). In addition, eight were built in Taiwan, six in Spain, and two in Australia for their navies. Former U.S. Navy warships of this class have been sold or donated to the navies of Bahrain, Egypt, Poland, Pakistan, Taiwan and Turkey.
The first of the 51 U.S. Navy built Oliver Hazard Perry frigates entered into service in 1977, and the last remaining in active service, the USS Simpson (FFG-56), was decommissioned on Sept. 29, 2015. The retired vessels were either mothballed or transferred to other navies for continued service. Some of the U.S. Navy's frigates, such as USS Duncan (14.6 years in service) had fairly short careers, while a few lasted as long as 30+ years in active U.S. service, with some lasting even longer after being sold or donated to other navies.
Video Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
Design and construction
The ships were designed by the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine in partnership with the New York-based naval architects Gibbs & Cox. The design process was notable as the initial design was accomplished with the help of computers in 18 hours by Raye Montague, a United States Naval Engineer; making it the first ship designed by computer.
The Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships were produced in 445-foot (136 m) long "short-hull" (Flight I) and 453-foot (138 m) long "long-hull" (Flight III) variants. The long-hull ships (FFG 8, 28, 29, 32, 33, and 36-61) carry the larger SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters, while the short-hulled warships carry the smaller and less-capable SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I. Aside from the lengths of their hulls, the principal difference between the versions is the location of the aft capstan: on long-hull ships, it sits a step below the level of the flight deck in order to provide clearance for the tail rotor of the longer Seahawk helicopters. The long-hull ships also carry the RAST (Recovery Assist Securing and Traversing) system (also known as a Beartrap (hauldown device)) for the Seahawk, a hook, cable, and winch system that can reel in a Seahawk from a hovering flight, expanding the ship's pitch-and-roll range in which flight operations are permitted. The FFG 8, 29, 32, and 33 were built as "short-hull" warships but were later modified into "long-hull" warships. Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were the second class of surface ship (after the Spruance-class destroyers) in the US Navy to be built with gas turbine propulsion. The gas turbine propulsion plant was more automated than other Navy propulsion plants at the time and could be centrally monitored and controlled from a remote engineering control center away from the engines. The gas turbine propulsion plants also allowed the ship's speed to be controlled directly from the bridge via a throttle control, a first for the US Navy.
American shipyards constructed Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships for the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Early American-built Australian ships were originally built as the "short-hull" version, but they were modified during the 1980s to the "long-hull" design. Shipyards in Australia, Spain, and Taiwan have produced several warships of the "long-hull" design for their navies.
Although the per-ship costs rose greatly over the period of production, all 51 ships planned for the U.S. Navy were built.
During the design phase of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, R.J. Daniels, was invited by an old friend, US Chief of the Bureau of Ships, Adm Robert C Gooding, to advise upon the use of variable-pitch propellers in the class. During the course of this conversation, Daniels warned Gooding against the use of aluminium in the superstructure of the FFG-7 class as he believed it would lead to structural weaknesses. A number of ships subsequently developed structural cracks, including a 40 ft (12 m) fissure in USS Duncan, before the problems were remedied.
The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were designed primarily as anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare guided-missile warships intended to provide open-ocean escort of amphibious warfare ships and merchant ship convoys in moderate threat environments in a potential war with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries. They could also provide air defense against 1970s- and 1980s-era aircraft and anti-ship missiles. These warships are equipped to escort and protect aircraft carrier battle groups, amphibious landing groups, underway replenishment groups, and merchant ship convoys. They can conduct independent operations to perform such tasks as surveillance of illegal drug smugglers, maritime interception operations, and exercises with other nations.
The addition of the Naval Tactical Data System, LAMPS helicopters, and the Tactical Towed Array System (TACTAS) gave these warships a combat capability far beyond the original expectations. They are well suited to operations in littoral regions, and for most war-at-sea scenarios.
Maps Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
Notable combat actions
Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates made worldwide news during the 1980s. Despite being small, these frigates were shown to be extremely durable. During the Iran-Iraq War, on 17 May 1987, USS Stark was attacked by an Iraqi warplane. Struck by two Exocet anti-ship missiles, thirty-seven U.S. Navy sailors died in the deadly prelude to the American Operation Earnest Will, the reflagging and escorting of oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz.
Less than a year later, on 14 April 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts was nearly sunk by an Iranian mine. No lives were lost, but 10 sailors were evacuated from the warship for medical treatment. The crew of Samuel B. Roberts battled fire and flooding for two days, ultimately managing to save the ship. The U.S. Navy retaliated four days later with Operation Praying Mantis, a one-day attack on Iranian oil platforms being used as bases for raids on merchant shipping. Those had included bases for the minelaying operations that damaged Samuel B. Roberts. Both frigates were repaired in American shipyards and returned to full service. Stark was decommissioned in 1999, and scrapped in 2006. Roberts was decommissioned at Mayport on 22 May 2015,
On April 18, 1988, USS Simpson was accompanying the cruiser USS Wainwright and frigate USS Bagley when they came under attack from the Iranian gunboat Joshan which fired a U.S. made Harpoon missile at the ships. With Simpson having the only clear shot, the frigate fired an SM-1 standard missile which struck Joshan. Simpson fired three more SM-1s, and with later naval fire from Wainwright, sank the Iranian vessel.
Durability
On July 14, 2016, USS Thach took over 12 hours to sink after being used in a live-fire, SINKEX during naval exercise RIMPAC 2016. During the exercise, the ship was directly or indirectly hit with the following ordnance: a Harpoon missile from a South Korean submarine, another Harpoon missile from the Australian frigate HMAS Ballarat, a Hellfire missile from an Australian SH-60S helicopter, another Harpoon missile and a Maverick missile from US maritime patrol aircraft, another Harpoon missile from the cruiser USS Princeton, additional Hellfire missiles from an American SH-60S Navy helicopter, a 2,000-pound Mark 84 bomb from a US Navy F/A-18 Hornet, a GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided 500-pound bomb from a US Air Force B-52 bomber, and a Mark 48 torpedo from an unnamed US Navy submarine.
Modifications
United States
The U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy modified their remaining Perrys to reduce their operating costs, replacing Detroit Diesel Company 16V149TI electrical generators with Caterpillar, Inc.- 3512B diesel engines.
From 2004-2005, the U.S.Navy removed the frigates' Mk 13 single-arm missile launchers and magazines because the primary missile, the Standard SM-1MR, had become outmoded.
The "zone-defense" anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) capability has vanished, and all that remains is a "point-defense" type of anti-air warfare armament. It would supposedly have been too costly to refit the Standard SM-1MR missiles, which had little ability to bring down sea-skimming missiles. Another reason is to allow more SM-1MRs to go to American allies that operate Perrys, such as Poland, Spain, Australia, Turkey, and Taiwan.
The removal of the launchers also stripped the frigates of their Harpoon anti-ship missiles. However, their Seahawk helicopters could still carry the much shorter-range Penguin and Hellfire anti-ship missiles. The last nine ships of the class had new remotely operated 25 mm Mk 38 Mod 2 Naval Gun Systems installed on platforms over the old MK 13 launcher magazine.
Up to 2002, the U.S. Navy updated the remaining active Oliver Hazard Perry-class warships' Phalanx CIWS to the "Block 1B" capability, which allowed the Mk 15 20 mm Phalanx gun to shoot at fast-moving surface craft and helicopters. They were also to have been fitted with the Mk 53 DLS "Nulka" missile decoy system, in place of the SRBOC (Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff) and flares, which would have better protected the ship against anti-ship missiles. It had been planned to outfit the remaining ships with a 32-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher at the location of the former Mk-13, but this did not occur.
On May 11, 2009, the first International Frigate Working Group met in Mayport Naval Station to discuss maintenance, obsolescence and logistics issues regarding Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships of the U.S. and foreign navies.
On June 16, 2009, Vice Admiral Barry McCullough turned down the suggestion of then-U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) to keep the Perrys in service, citing their worn-out and maxed-out condition. However, U.S. Representative Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) and former U.S. Representative Gene Taylor (D-MS) took up the cause to retain the vessels.
The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were to have been eventually replaced by Littoral Combat Ships by 2019. However, the worn out frigates were being retired faster than the LCSs are being built, which may lead to a gap in United States Southern Command mission coverage. According to Navy deactivation plans, all Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates would be retired by October 2015. Simpson was the last to be retired (on 29 September 2015), leaving the Navy devoid of frigates for the first time since 1943. The ships will either be made available for sale to foreign navies or dismantled. Perry-class frigate retirement was accelerated by budget pressures, which will lead to the remaining 11 ships being replaced by only eight LCS hulls. With the timeline LCS mission packages will come online unknown, there is uncertainty if they will be able to perform the frigates' counter-narcotics and anti-submarine roles when they are gone. The Navy is looking into Military Sealift Command to see if the Joint High Speed Vessel, Mobile Landing Platform, and other auxiliary ships could handle low-end missions that the frigates performed.
The U.S. Coast Guard harvested weapons systems components from decommissioned Navy Perry-class frigates to save money. Harvesting components from four decommissioned frigates resulted in more than $24 million in cost savings, which increases with parts from more decommissioned frigates. Equipment including Mk 75, 76 mm/62 caliber gun mounts, gun control panels, barrels, launchers, junction boxes, and other components were returned to service aboard Famous-class cutters to extend their service lives into the 2030s.
In June 2017, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson revealed the Navy was "taking a hard look" at reactivating 7-8 out of 12 mothballed Perry-class frigates to increase fleet numbers. While the move is under consideration, there would be difficulties in returning them to service given the age of the ships and their equipment, likely requiring a significant modernization effort. Although bringing the frigates out of retirement would provide a short-term solution to fleet size, their limited combat capability would restrict them to acting as a theater security cooperation, maritime security asset. Their likely role would be serving as basic surface platforms that stay close to U.S. shores, performing missions such as assisting drug interdiction efforts or patrolling the Arctic so an extensive upgrade to the ships' combat systems wouldn't need to be undertaken. An October 2017 memo recommended against reactivating the frigates, claiming it would cost too much money that would take funding from other Navy priorities to get little effectiveness.
Australia
Australia spent A$1.46bn to upgrade the Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) Adelaide-class guided-missile frigates, including equipping them to fire the SM-2 version of the Standard missile, adding an eight-cell Mark 41 Vertical Launching System for Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles, and installing better air-search radars and long-range sonar.
The first of the upgraded frigates, HMAS Sydney, returned to the RAN fleet in 2005. Four frigates eventually upgraded the Garden Island shipyard in Sydney, Australia, with the modernizations lasting between 18 months and two years. The cost of the upgrades was partly offset, in the short run, by the decommissioning and disposal of the two older frigates. HMAS Canberra was decommissioned on 12 November 2005 at naval base HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, and HMAS Adelaide was decommissioned at that same naval base on 20 January 2008. HMAS Sydney was decommissioned at the Garden Island naval base in 2016.
The Adelaide class frigates will be replaced by three Hobart-class air warfare destroyers equipped with the AEGIS combat system.
Turkey
The Turkish Navy had commenced the modernization of its G-class frigates with the GENESIS (Gemi Entegre Sava? ?dare Sistemi) combat management system in 2007. The first GENESIS upgraded ship was delivered in 2007, and the last delivery is scheduled for 2011. The "short-hull" Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates that are currently part of the Turkish Navy were modified with the ASIST landing platform system at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard, so that they can accommodate the S-70B Seahawk helicopters. Turkey is planning to add one eight-cell Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for the Evolved Sea Sparrow missile, to be installed forward of the present Mk 13 missile launchers, similar to the case in the modernization program of the Australian Adelaide-class frigates. TCG Gediz was the first ship in the class to receive the Mk 41 VLS installation. There are also plans for new components to be installed that are being developed for the Milgem-class warships (Ada-class corvettes and F-100-class frigates) of the Turkish Navy. These include modern Three-dimensional and X-band radars developed by Aselsan and Turkish-made hull-mounted sonars. One of the G-class frigates will also be used as a test-bed for Turkey's 6,000+ ton TF2000-class AAW frigates that are currently being designed by the Turkish Naval Institute.
Operators
- Australia (Adelaide class): The Royal Australian Navy purchased six frigates. Four of them were built in the United States while the other two were built in Australia. Four of the ships were upgraded with the addition of an eight-cell Mk 41 VLS with 32 Evolved Sea Sparrow (ESSM) missiles, and the Standard Missile SM-2, plus upgraded radars and sonars while the other two ships were decommissioned.
- Bahrain: USS Jack Williams was purchased from the American government in 1996 and re-christened Sabha.
- Egypt: Four Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates transferred from the U.S. Navy.
- Pakistan: Six to be transferred, The former USS McInerney transferred to Pakistani Navy in August 2010.
- Poland: Two frigates were transferred from the U.S. Navy in 2002 and 2003.
- Taiwan (Cheng Kung class): Taiwanese-built. Originally eight ships were equipped with eight Hsiung Feng II anti-ship missiles, now all but PFG-1103 are carrying four HF-2 and four HF-3 supersonic AShM. The PFG-1103 Cheng Ho will change the anti-ship mix upon their major overhaul. Seven out of eight ships added Bofors 40 mm/L70 guns for both surface and anti-air use. On November 5, 2012 Minister of Defense Kao announced the U.S. government will sell Taiwan two additional Perry-class frigates that are about to be retired from the U.S. Navy for a cost of US$240 million to be retrofitted and delivered in 2015. Two more frigates, the ex-USS Gary and the ex-USS Taylor are to be reactivated and transferred to Taiwan. In July 2016, the U.S. Naval Sea Systems Command awarded a $74 million contract to Virginia-based VSE Corporation to do the work. According to the contract, VSE has 16 months to complete the work. The U.S. State Department officially approved the sale of both ships for $190 million in March 2016.
- Spain (Santa Maria class): Spanish-built: six frigates.
- Turkey (G class): Eight former U.S. Navy Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates have been transferred to the Turkish Navy. All have undergone extensive advanced modernization programs, and they are now known as the G-class frigates. The Turkish Navy modernized G-class frigates have an additional Mk-41 Vertical Launch System capable of launching Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles for close-in, as well as their longer-range SM-1 missiles; advanced digital fire control systems and new Turkish-made sonars.
Former operators
- United States: The U.S. Navy commissioned 51 FFG-7 class frigates between 1977 and 1989. The last of these, Simpson, was decommissioned on 29 September 2015.
Potential operators
- Mexico: Two former U.S. Navy Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates USS McClusky and USS Curts were to be sold to the Mexican Navy under the FMS, but as of September 2016 they are to be sunk as targets and are currently in reserve at Pearl Harbor.
- Thailand: Two former U.S. Navy Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were allocated by the US government to the Royal Thai Navy, subject to acceptance by the Thai government: the former USS Rentz and USS Vandegrift. Rentz however was sunk as a target in the 2016 SINKEX exercise Valiant shield. Vangegrift was striken from the record in 2015 and was decommissioned, waiting to be disposed of.
List of vessels
Related legislation
On April 7, 2014, the United States House of Representatives voted to pass the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 (H.R. 3470; 113th Congress), a bill that would allow eight more Perry frigates to be transferred to foreign countries. The bill would authorize the President to transfer Curts and McClusky to Mexico, and Rentz and Vandegrift to Thailand. The bill would also authorize the President to sell four units (Taylor, Gary, Carr, and Elrod) to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office of the United States (which is the Taiwan agency designated pursuant to the Taiwan Relations Act) for about $10 million each.
Considered for reactivation
On June 13, 2017, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John M. Richardson announced that U.S. Navy officials are currently looking into the possibility of recommissioning several Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates from its inactive fleet to help build up and support President Donald Trump's proposed 355 ship navy plan. On December 11, 2017, the Navy decided against reactivating the class citing that reactivating the ships would prove too costly.
See also
- List of naval ship classes in service
References
Further reading
- Bruhn, David D., Steven C. Saulnier, and James L. Whittington (1997). Ready to Answer All Bells: A Blueprint for Successful Naval Engineering. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-227-7. CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link) (Operating a Perry frigate)
- Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-733-X. (Contains material on frigates and Perrys in particular)
- Levinson, Jeffrey L. & Randy L. Edwards (1997). Missile Inbound. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-517-9. (Attack on the USS Stark (FFG 31) )
- Peniston, Bradley (2006). No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-661-5. (Mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) )
- Snow, Ralph L. (1987). Bath Iron Works: The First Hundred Years. Bath, Maine: Maine Maritime Museum. ISBN 0-9619449-0-0. (The origin and construction of the Perrys, from the design shipyard's point of view.)
- Wise, Harold Lee (2007). Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987-88. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-970-3.
External links
- Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates at Destroyer History Foundation
- Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates: United States Navy Wikipedia book created 20 October 2009 at Internet Archive
- Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates 2015: United States Navy Wikipedia book created 22 January 2015 at Internet Archive
- Official U.S. Navy Fact File: Frigates
- FFG-7 OLIVER HAZARD PERRY-class: by the Federation of American Scientists
- MaritimeQuest Perry Class Overview
- Launch of FFG 58
Source of article : Wikipedia
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