USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG-34)
USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG-34), underway during post-shakedown yard period sea trials, 5 May 1983.
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Name: | Aubrey Fitch |
| Namesake: | Admiral Aubrey Fitch |
| Ordered: | 23 January 1978 |
| Builder: | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
| Laid down: | 10 April 1981 |
| Launched: | 17 October 1981 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Francesca Fitch Ferguson |
| Acquired: | 1 October 1982 |
| Commissioned: | 9 October 1982 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 December 1997 |
| Struck: | 3 May 1999 |
| Homeport: | Mayport, Florida (former) |
| Identification: |
|
| Motto: | "A Breed Apart" |
| Fate: | 11 March 2004, contract for scrapping, first Oliver Hazard Perry-class ship to be scrapped |
| Status: | 19 May 2005, scrapping completed |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load |
| Length: | 445 feet (136 m), overall |
| Beam: | 45 feet (14 m) |
| Draught: | 22 feet (6.7 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | over 29 knots (54 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 15 officers and 190 enlisted, plus SH-60 LAMPS detachment of roughly six officer pilots and 15 enlisted maintainers |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
|
| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
AN/SLQ-32 |
| Armament: |
|
| Armor: | none |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × SH-2F LAMPS I |
| Aviation facilities: | hangar, flight deck, & repair shop |
USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG-34), the twenty-sixth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Vice-Admiral Aubrey Fitch (1883–1978), who was noted for his outstanding command work in the South Pacific during World War II.
Ordered on 23 January 1978, as a part of the FY-1978 program, Aubrey Fitch was laid down on 10 April 1981 at the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine. She was launched on 17 October 1981—sponsored by Mrs. Francesca Fitch Ferguson, the granddaughter of the late Admiral Fitch—and was commissioned at Bath, Maine, on 9 October 1982, with Commander Floyd A. Weeks in command.
This warship was decommissioned on 12 December 1997 and stricken from the Navy's list on 3 May 1999.
After commissioning, Aubrey Fitch remained at Bath for another five weeks completing her outfitting, propulsion plant testing, and sailors' training. In mid-November, she made the passage from Bath to her home port, Mayport, Florida, where she spent the remainder of 1982. She was the final "Short-Hull" Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate to be built, the rest were "Long-Hulls".
Early in January 1983, the guided-missile frigate embarked upon her shakedown cruise to the vicinity of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The warship returned to Mayport during the middle of February and then launched into a series of trials, qualifications, and certifications preparatory to her final acceptance by the Navy. She completed final acceptance trials late in May and entered the yard at Bath Iron Works for a three-month, post-shakedown availability. Aubrey Fitch completed repalrs and returned to Mayport in September. In October, she commenced refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay.
The guided-missile frigate was so engaged when United States military forces invaded the small Caribbean island nation of Grenada on 25 October in response to a power struggle between leftist factions that endangered the stability of the region as well as the lives of United States citizens attending the medical college there. Aubrey Fitch interrupted refresher training to conduct patrols in defense of the base at Guantanamo Bay against possible hostile action by Cuba as a result of the conflict in Grenada where Americans found themselves fighting Cuban "advisors" and "construction workers".
...
Wikipedia