USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073)
History
United States
NameRobert E. Peary
NamesakeRobert Peary
OrderedJuly 22, 1964
BuilderLockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington
Laid downDecember 20, 1970
LaunchedJune 23, 1971
AcquiredAugust 11, 1972
CommissionedSeptember 23, 1972
DecommissionedAugust 7, 1992
StrickenJanuary 11, 1995
IdentificationFF-1073
FateTransferred to Taiwan, August 7, 1992
Badge
Taiwan
NameChi Yang
AcquiredAugust 7, 1992
CommissionedOctober 6, 1993
DecommissionedMay 1, 2015
IdentificationFF-932
FateSunk as target on July 15, 2020
General characteristics
Class and typeKnox-class frigate
Displacement4,066 long tons (4,131 t) (full load)
Length438 ft (134 m)
Beam47 ft (14 m)
Draft25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Babcock & Wilcox Modified "D" Super-heated 1200psi boilers
  • 1 Westinghouse geared turbine
  • 1 shaft, 35,000 shp (26,000 kW)
Speedover 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h)
Range4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement18 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
  • AN/SQS-35 Towed Body Sonar
  • Mk68 Gun Fire Control System
Electronic warfare
& decoys		AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System
Armament
Aircraft carriedone SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter

USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073) was a Knox-class frigate with the United States Navy from 1972 until 1992. In 1992, the ship was decommissioned and loaned to the Republic of China. The ship was renamed Chi Yang (Chinese: 濟陽) and was part of the Taiwanese navy until 2015.

Construction

The third US Navy warship named for Robert E. Peary was laid down on December 20, 1970, by the Lockheed Ship Building and Drydock Company in Seattle, Washington; launched June 26, 1971; sponsored by Miss Josephine Peary; and commissioned September 23, 1972.

Design and description

The Knox-class design was derived from the Brooke class 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 Babcock & Wilcox Modified "D" Super-heated 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-inch/50-caliber gun aft. They mounted an eight-round RUR-5 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]

Service history

Following two months of miscellaneous tests and trials along the northern Pacific coast of the United States, she steamed into her home port at Long Beach, California, November 8. Robert E. Peary remained in the Long Beach area for one year exactly, departing for WestPac November 9, 1973, and arriving in Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, ten days later.

Robert E. Peary was decommissioned on August 7, 1992, and loaned to the Republic of China.[4] The destroyer escort was renamed Chi Yang by the Taiwanese Navy and served with the identification number FF-932. The vessel was commissioned into the Taiwanese Navy on October 6, 1993.[4] On November 11, 1995, the ship was officially struck from the United States navy list. The frigate continued service until 2015, when on May 1, Chi Yang and her sister, Hai Ying, were decommissioned at Kaohsiung. The two ships will be cannibalized for parts to keep the remaining six Knox-class vessels of the Taiwanese Navy in service.[5]

USS Robert E. Peary as seen from the starboard side of USS Truxtun circa 1991 in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm
USS Robert E. Peary as ROCS Chi Yang (FF-932) in Keelung, Taiwan, 2012

Notes

  1. ^ Friedman, pp. 357–60, 425
  2. ^ Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
  3. ^ Friedman, pp. 360–61; Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
  4. ^ a b Saunders, p. 720
  5. ^ "ROC navy frigates decommissioned in Kaohsiung". Taiwan Today. May 4, 2015. Archived from the original on August 22, 2015. Retrieved August 21, 2015.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073).
Knox-class frigates
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2020
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