USS Knox (FF-1052)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Knox.
USS Knox
History
United States
Name: USS Knox
Namesake: Commodore Dudley Wright Knox
Ordered: 22 July 1964
Builder: Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington
Laid down: 5 October 1965
Launched: 19 November 1966
Sponsored by: Mrs. Peter A. Sturtevant, granddaughter of Commodore Knox
Acquired: 28 March 1969
Commissioned: 12 April 1969
Decommissioned: 14 February 1992
Reclassified: As frigate (FF) 30 June 1975
Struck: 11 January 1995
Fate: Sunk as target, 7 August 2007
General characteristics
Class and type: Knox-class frigate
Displacement: 3020 tons standard, 4163 tons full
Length:
  • 415 ft (126 m) waterline
  • 438 ft (134 m) overall
Beam: 47 ft (14 m)
Draft: 24.75 ft (7.54 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × CE 1200psi boilers
  • 1 Westinghouse geared turbine
  • 1 shaft, 35,000 shp (26,000 kW)
Speed: over 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range: 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi)
Complement: 13 officers, 211 men
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • AN/SPS-10 surface search
  • AN/SPS-40 air search
  • AN/SQS-26CX sonar
  • AN/SQS-35 IVDS towed array sonar
Electronic warfare
& decoys:		 AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 1 DASH drone helicopter, later 1 SH-2 LAMPS I helicopter

USS Knox (DE-1052/FF-1052) was the prototype and lead ship in a new class of destroyer escorts in the United States Navy. She was named for Commodore Dudley Wright Knox and was the second US Navy ship named USS Knox.

Design and description

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

Knox was laid down 5 October 1965, by Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington; launched 19 November 1966; sponsored by Mrs. Peter A. Sturtevant, granddaughter of Commodore Knox; and was commissioned on 12 April 1969 with Commander William A. Lamm in command.

Knox performed search and rescue operations and provided evacuation, blockade, and surveillance support, when necessary, for the Pacific Fleet. In April 1975 Knox participated in Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.[4] Knox was redesignated a frigate on 30 June 1975 as FF-1052.

Disposition

Decommissioned on 14 February 1992, Knox was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 January 1995. NAVSEA temporarily placed Knox on the donation hold list but removed her from the list around 2003. Knox was sunk as a target off Guam during an exercise on 7 August 2007.

Awards, citations and campaign ribbons

Bronze star
Bronze star
 Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (with two bronze service stars)
Navy Expeditionary Medal
Bronze star
 National Defense Service Medal (with one bronze service star)
Bronze star
 Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (with one bronze service star)
Bronze star
 Vietnam Service Medal (with one bronze service star)
Humanitarian Service Ribbon
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon
Vietnam Campaign Medal

Reference : USS Knox on NavSource.org

Notes

  1. ↑ Friedman, pp. 357–60, 425
  2. ↑ Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
  3. ↑ Friedman, pp. 360–61; Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
  4. ↑ By Sea, Air and Land: An Illustrated History of the U.S. Navy and the war in Southeast Asia Chapter 5: The Final Curtain, 1973–1975

References

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