USS Vandegrift (FFG-48)

USS Vandegrift (FFG-48) launching a missile, 15 March 1996.
History
United States
Namesake:	General Alexander A. Vandegrift
Awarded:	28 April 1980
Builder:	Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington
Laid down:	13 October 1981
Launched:	15 October 1982
Sponsored by:	Ms. Serina N. S. Vandegrift Ms. Courtney A. Vandegrift Ms. Stephanie S. Vandegrift Ms. Daphne L. Vandegrift
Commissioned:	24 November 1984
Decommissioned:	19 February 2015
Struck:	31 March 2015
Homeport:	Naval Base San Diego
Identification:	Hull symbol:FFG-48 Code letters:NAAV
Motto:	"Exercitatus, Conservatus, Paratus"
Nickname(s):	Vandy
Status:	Stricken, to be disposed of
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
Displacement:	4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load
Length:	453 feet (138 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:	2 × SH-60 LAMPS III helicopters
Aviation facilities:	2 × Hangars RAST helicopter hauldown system

USS Vandegrift (FFG-48) was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate of the United States Navy. The ship was named for General Alexander A. Vandegrift (1887–1973), 18th Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Vandegrift was laid down on 13 October 1981 at Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington. She was launched on 15 October 1982 — cosponsored by Ms. Courtney A. Vandegrift, Ms. Stephanie S. Vandegrift, and Ms. Daphne L. Vandegrift, three of the late Gen. Vandegrift’s granddaughters, and Ms. Serina N. S. Vandegrift, his great granddaughter.Vandegrift was commissioned on 24 November 1984; Commander Clinton James Coneway in command; and, after over 30 years of service, decommissioned on 19 February 2015.

The ship's inaugural cruise began on 5 January 1987. During the course of this around-the-world cruise, she sailed three oceans, seven seas and visited four continents. The plank owners also crossed the International Date Line, Equator, Greenwich Meridian, and sailed through the Strait of Gibraltar, and the Suez and Panama Canals. Vandegrift conducted operations with USS Kitty Hawk in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. These operations were highlighted by an air and sea power demonstration for president Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq of Pakistan. Port visits included Pearl Harbor; Subic Bay in the Republic of the Philippines; Karachi, Pakistan; Mombasa, Kenya; Maxime, France; Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico; and St. Croix and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Vandegrift returned home to Long Beach in June 1987.