Knox class

Knox class
USS Gray (FF-1054)
Overview
Type	frigate
units	46 (see units )
Namesake	Commodore Dudley Wright Knox
period of service	1969–1994 (US Navy, still in use in other navies)
Technical specifications
displacement	4,100 ts
length	133.5 meters
width	14.25 meters
Draft	7.6 meters
crew	17 officers, 228 sailors
drive	1 propeller, 1 gear turbine, 2 boilers; 35,000  wave horsepower
speed	27+ knots
Range	4,500  nautical miles at 20 knots

The frigates of the Knox class were from the United States Navy planned the early 1960s as offshore support vessels and built from the 1965th Suffering from massive savings and criticism during the construction, the Knoxes turned out to be a successful construction in use. With 46 ships, the Knox class was numerically the second largest frigate class of all western navies after the Oliver Hazard Perry class . She remained in service with the US Navy until 1994, most of the ships were sold to other states and are still in active service today.

history

Launch of the Knox

Planning and construction

The development of the Knoxes started a little later than the development of the Garcia class , which was to implement the experiences made with the Bronsteins . Ultimately, the Knox class was preferred because it again showed some improvements over the other ships. They were to serve as a replacement for the destroyer escorts from World War II , which were due to be modernized in the FRAM program in the mid-1960s. The first ten ships were approved for fiscal 1964, with the remaining 36 units following through 1968. Orders were placed with Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle and San Pedro (14 units), Lockheed Shipbuilding , Seattle (5 units) and Avondale Shipyards , New Orleans (27 units) awarded. The pure construction costs were around 18 million US dollars per ship, the total price was around 31 million dollars. The total cost of building the class (excluding conversions) was $ 1.425 billion. The keel laying of the type ship , Knox , took place on October 5, 1965 at Todd in Seattle, on April 12, 1969 the Knox , still known as DE-1052, was put into service. The last ship, Moinester , entered service on November 2, 1974. Originally ten more ships (DE-1098 to DE-1107) were planned, these were canceled in favor of the destroyers of the Spruance class and because of massive cost overruns in the construction of the nuclear-powered hunting submarines .

designation

As is customary with US Navy frigates, all Knox-class ships were named after deceased members of the Navy, Marine Corps or Coast Guard . The type ship and with it the class got its name in honor of Commodore Dudley Wright Knox (born June 21, 1877 - June 11, 1960), a Navy Cross carrier and veteran of the Spanish-American War and the First World War . Numerous ships in the class were also given names of fallen soldiers in the Vietnam War , the first being the Roark , which was named after a naval aviator that was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965.

The only ship that "falls out of line" is the Harold E. Holt , named after the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt , a supporter of US politics in Southeast Asia, who died in a swimming accident in 1967.

Trippe in its original state

Modifications

In the following years, all ships underwent some massive modifications. After the failure of the DASH drones , which all Knoxes had originally been equipped to accommodate , all ships between 1972 and 1976 were accepted for a manned LAMPS- I helicopter ( SH-2 Seasprite ) for about one million US dollars per ship. equipped. In addition, they were given an extendable hangar in place of the drone hangar, which was too small for helicopters, and the landing deck was structurally reinforced. At the same time, the equipping of 35 ships with a tow sonar , which was housed in the stern, began. 32 ships were also equipped with an aft Sea Sparrow starter. From 1975 the machinery was modernized and improved, as was the sonar equipment. In the course of the reorganization of the ship classifications, all ships were reclassified from escort destroyers (DE) to frigates (FF) on June 30, 1975. From the mid-1980s onwards, all ships were equipped with a close-range defense system on the aft deck, the previously existing guided missile launcher was removed.

Spain built in the state Bazan -Werft 1971 five frigates of the Baleares class , on the Knox-class based, but instead of the hangar one Mk.22 - aircraft missiles starter for RIM-24 Tartar had. The last ship of the Baleares class was decommissioned in 2006.

Whereabouts

With the end of the Cold War and the increased commissioning of Perry-class frigates, the ships of the Knox-class were no longer needed and gradually decommissioned until 1994. After their retirement, some units still served as training ships or remained in the reserve fleet . Twelve frigates were sold to Turkey , eight former Knoxes serve in the Taiwanese navy , four were handed over to the Armada de México and two ships each to the navies of Egypt , Greece and Thailand . The remaining 16 ships were either scrapped (or are about to be scrapped) or were sunk as a target ship. The Knox was supposed to become a museum ship, but has since been planned for sinking.

See also: List of Knox Class Units

technology

Bird's- eye view of fanning

hull

The hull of a Knox-class frigate is 133.5 meters long and 14.25 meters wide. The maximum draft is 7.6 meters at the sonar bulge and 4.87 meters below the keel. The displacement when empty is 3,877 ts (FF-1052 to FF-1077) or 3,963 ts (FF-1078 to FF-1097). Some sources therefore speak of a subclass, the Joseph Hewes class . Apart from the greater displacement of empty space, the ships do not otherwise differ from the others. When loaded, the displacement of all ships is 4,100 ts. The deckhouse, which extends over the entire width of the ships, takes up the middle half of the ship's length. The hard rubber sonar bead is located under the raised bow stem. Behind the deckhouse is the slightly raised landing area, originally for the DASH drones, later also for helicopters. Midship is the Mack , a combination of the chimney (Engl. Stack ) and pole.

The Knoxes were equipped with stabilizing fins , which dampened about 80% of the rolling movements .

drive

The frigates were powered by a steam turbine that delivered its 35,000 horsepower to a single shaft. The propeller was five- bladed and had a diameter of 4.57 meters. The steam required was generated in two oil-fired boilers at 1,200 psi (85 bar ). The drive system is based on the drive of the Charles F. Adams class , but has been further improved and automated so that fewer personnel were required for operation and maintenance, and fuel consumption was also reduced. The drive was designed for long journeys at a constant speed of around 20 knots , but could briefly accelerate the ship to up to 30 knots. With one boiler alone, up to 24 knots could still be achieved. The ships could store up to 200,000 gallons (757,086.9 liters) of fuel, which meant the range was up to 4,500 nautical miles at 20 knots.

Launch of a harpoon from the Barbey

Armament

According to their classification as anti-submarine frigates , they were equipped with an eight-cell ASROC starter in front of the bridge, which could be reloaded from a magazine under the bridge. The starter could also fire Harpoon anti-ship missiles after a modification made in the mid-1980s . In front of the ASROC starter was a 5-inch Mark 42 multi-purpose gun for use against sea and air targets. There were usually 600 rounds of ammunition on board for the gun. In the aft deck superstructure there were two paired, fixed torpedo tubes for Mark 46 torpedoes on each side . Up to ten reserve torpedoes were carried for the torpedo tubes.

When the Knoxes were built, criticism was voiced that the ships were underarmed for their size (the much smaller Bronstein-class frigates were not much less armed). The planning turned out to be correct, as most ships (FF-1052 to FF-1083) were equipped with a RIM-7 Sea Sparrow starter Mark 25 in the mid-1970s , the Downes (FF-1070) received one Mark-29 starter. By retrofitting with the eight launchers , the ships now had increased anti-aircraft capabilities , as the Mark 42 guns were too slow to defend against modern jets. The Sea Sparrow starter was removed from the mid-1980s, all ships (including those that had not previously been converted) received a Phalanx CIWS on the aft deck instead , in order to be able to defend themselves against approaching anti-ship missiles.

Several ships were from the early 1980s with two heavy M2 - machine guns equipped, each one amidships starboard and port side. These should be used to fight smaller boats and mines.

Mack the Donald B. Beary with radars

electronics

Main sensor of the Knox-class frigates was the powerful SQS-26 - Sonar whose tracking devices were in the 26-ton bulbous bow made of hard rubber. Mid-1970s, 35 of the ships were a SQS-35 - towed array sonar equipped its plants were located under the aft deck. The tow sensors were drained through an opening in the ship's transom and made it possible to better locate enemy submarines. From 1977 onwards, all ships of the class were also equipped with an SQR-18 tow sonar, or the SQS-35 was upgraded to the new standard.

For aerial reconnaissance one was on the Mack PLC 40 - Radar , as a surface search radar was a PLC 10 of Raytheon used. The gun's fire control was taken over by a Mark 68 radar with an antenna above the bridge. A Mark 114 radar was on board to manage the ASROC starter , also attached above the bridge. By retrofitting the Sea Sparrow were Knoxes with a Mark 115 - fire control radar equipped on the helicopter hangar, the Downes received two Mark 91 radars.

For helicopter navigation, all ships from 1979 received the URN-26 TACAN system with an antenna on the top of the mast. For electronic warfare , the Knoxes had the WLR-6 / SLQ-32 system, whose antennas were also attached to the top of the mast.

All ships also had the prairie masker system, in which a curtain of fine air bubbles was placed around the ship to camouflage the ship's noises. For this purpose, compressed air was pumped by a compressor into a pipe running around the ship with fine holes and the hollow propeller; the escaping air bubbles covered the ship's noise and made it more difficult for enemy sonar devices to locate it.

Fire control center of the Capodanno

crew

The crew of a Knox consisted of 17 officers and 228 NCOs and men. With the introduction of the LAMPS helicopter, the number increased to 22 officers and 261 NCOs and men. The ship's commander was mostly an experienced commander who had previously gained experience with destroyers and frigates and had served in the Navy for around 15 years. The ship's command was directly subordinate to him, and he was also in charge of all other officers. The ship's operations officer reported about 60 men who were deployed in the ship's “nerve center”, the Combat Information Center . All information came together there. The technical officer and his two deputies commanded the second largest department of the ship with 75 men, which was responsible for the operation, maintenance and repair of the ship's technical systems, especially the propulsion system.

The division of the weapons officer and his three representatives comprised about 80 men and was the largest on the ship. The department was responsible for the operation and maintenance of the on-board weapons . The supply officer was in command of a 35-man division that was responsible for supplies and supplies, as well as minor repairs.

Mission profile

Cook leads a convoy of ships

Originally, the Knox-class ships were planned and built as escorts for convoys . They should protect merchant ships from enemy submarines in the open ocean. With the escalation of the Vietnam War, however, the Navy ran out of funds, so that the Knoxes had to slip into a role they were not planned for: escorting aircraft carriers and protecting them from submarines. This turned out to be difficult due to the design of the ships with only one propeller and the associated low speed of only 26 knots. The failure of the DASH program in the mid-1960s also deprived them of their most important weapon in the fight against submarines.

With the modernizations in the 1970s, this problem was solved, the improvement of the aircraft technology and the launch facilities on board the carriers made high speeds no longer necessary, so that the frigates were able to perform their tasks in the Carrier Vessel Battle Group better and better. Until they were decommissioned by the US Navy, they were used in all major conflicts and operations, and with their new owners they are also a welcome addition to the anti-submarine capabilities.

Additional information

literature

• Stefan Terzibaschitsch : Sea power USA . Bechtermünz Verlag, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-86047-576-2 .

Web links

Commons : Knox class  - collection of images, videos, and audio files

• Knox class at GlobalSecurity.org (English)
• Knox class at the Federation of American Scientists

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} globalsecurity.org , Introduction to the Knox Class, as of October 20, 2006
2. ↑ ^{a b} Terzibaschitsch: Seemacht USA , p. 461
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Terzibaschitsch: Seemacht USA , p. 459
4. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Seemacht USA , p. 464
5. ↑ globalsecurity.org , naming, status: October 20, 2006
6. ↑ Ship fates navysite.de
7. ↑ ^{a b} Terzibaschitsch: Seemacht USA , p. 460
8. ↑ globalsecurity.org , Antrieb, as of October 20, 2006
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Terzibaschitsch: Seemacht USA , p. 458
10. ↑ Ship Specifications . ( Memento of the original from January 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. USS Badger Association as of November 4, 2006  
11. ↑ Prairie Masker System. ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. USS Badger Association as of November 4, 2006  
12. ↑ occupation. globalsecurity.org, as of May 25, 2007

This version was added to the list of articles worth reading on October 28, 2006 .