USS Sides (FFG-14)

USS Sides entering San Francisco Bay in 2002
History
United States
Namesake:	Admiral John H. Sides
Ordered:	27 February 1976
Builder:	Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California
Laid down:	7 August 1978
Launched:	19 May 1979
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Joanne Sides Watson, daughter of Adm. Sides
Commissioned:	30 May 1981
Decommissioned:	28 February 2003
Struck:	24 May 2004
Homeport:	NS San Diego, California (former)
Identification:	Hull symbol:FFG-14 Code letters:NJHS
Motto:	"Savvy"
Fate:	15 December 2014, contract for vessel demilitarization, dismantling, and recycling
Status:	15 June 2015, arrived under tow at Southern Recycling, Sulphur, Louisiana
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:	2 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines generating 41,000 shp (31 MW) through a single shaft and variable pitch propeller 2 × Auxiliary Propulsion Units, 350 hp (260 kW) retractable electric azimuth thrusters for maneuvering and docking.
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:	AN/SPS-49 air-search radar AN/SPS-55 surface-search radar CAS and STIR fire-control radar AN/SQS-56 sonar.
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32
Armament:	As built: 1 × OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun 2 × Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes 1 × Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 4 × .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. 1 × Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine) Note: As of 2004, Mk 13 systems removed from all active US vessels of this class.
Aircraft carried:	1 × SH-2F LAMPS I

USS Sides (FFG-14) is an Oliver Hazard Perry class guided-missile frigate of the US Navy.

The eighth ship in the class, it was named for Admiral John H. Sides (died 1978). Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California, on 27 February 1976 as part of the FY76 program, Sides was laid down on 7 August 1978, launched on 19 May 1979, and commissioned on 30 May 1981. Sides ship sponsor was Mrs. Joanne Sides Watson, daughter of Admiral Sides.

Sides escorted tankers through the Straits of Hormuz during the Tanker War and participated in Operation Praying Mantis, the retaliation for Iranian mining operations.[1] The Sides was also part of the Surface Action Group under USS Vincennes when Iran Air 655 was shot down. Sides and her crew received a Meritorious Unit Commendation for the time period 13 April 1988 to 25 July 1988.

Sides and her crew received Navy E Ribbons for the 18-month period, July 1983 to December 1984, and for the years 1995, 1999 and 2000.

Sides was decommissioned on 28 February 2003 and as of 2014 was laid up in reserve at Naval Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility Bremerton, Washington.

Sides was expected to join the Portuguese Navy in 2006, together with her sister ship George Philip, but the Portuguese Navy dropped the offer and chose two Dutch Karel Doorman Frigates instead.