USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58)
 The Samuel B. Roberts on a quick turn |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Order | March 22, 1982 |
| Keel laying | May 21, 1984 |
| Launch | December 8, 1984 |
| 1. Period of service |
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|
| Commissioning | April 12, 1986 |
| Decommissioning | May 22, 2015 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
4100 tons |
| length |
138.1 meters |
| width |
13.5 meters |
| Draft |
7.5 meters |
| crew |
17 officers, 198 sailors |
| drive |
1 propeller, driven by 2 gas turbines; 41,000 wave horsepower |
| speed |
29+ knots |
| Armament |
1 gun 76 mm, 2 triple torpedo tubes, 1 Phalanx CIWS disarmed: 1 rocket launcher |
The USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) is a frigate of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate . During a mission in the Persian Gulf in 1988, the ship, also known as Sammy B. , ran into an Iranian mine. In retaliation, the US launched Operation Praying Mantis , in which the Iranian Navy lost several units.
technology
The Samuel B. Roberts is counted among the so-called long-hull , i.e. that is, it is about 138 meters long and 13 meters wide. The draft is 7 meters. About 236 people work on the ship, including about 215 crew members and 21 members of the helicopter crews (six pilots, 15 maintenance personnel).
The Samy B. was, as initially designed primarily all ships of Perry class as escort ship for defense against air and sea targets. For this purpose, she was equipped with an MK13 launcher for SM1 missiles for anti-aircraft missiles and Harpoon missiles for combating sea targets, which, however, was removed at the beginning of the 21st century.
The USS Samuel B. Roberts still has a 76 mm gun and two triple torpedo tubes that can be used against submarines for anti- naval targeting . In addition, the ship has a CIWS for defense against approaching anti-ship missiles .
In addition, there are two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters on the frigate , which are suitable for combating surface targets and submarines and which can be equipped with Penguin anti-ship missiles and torpedoes .
Name and insignia
The ship is named after the helmsman Samuel Booker Roberts . He was born in 1921 and served in the Second World War, among other things, in the Battle of Guadalcanal . When a company of US Marines was surrounded by Japanese soldiers on September 27, 1942 , volunteers, including Roberts, launched an attack on the Japanese positions. When this threatened to fail, Roberts drove up and down in his landing craft directly in front of the beach and distracted the Japanese long enough to enable the evacuation of the trapped. Roberts was wounded during his retreat and died of the consequences the following day. Roberts received the Navy Cross posthumously and three units in the Navy were named after him.
The coat of arms of Sammy B. consists of a shield with a helmet ornament, framed with the name and the identification of the ship. The shield is divided into navy blue and red and yellow stripes. The undulating transition is supposed to symbolize the coast of the island of Guadalcanal , the red and yellow part of the encircled marines on the island. On the blue side are the stars, two silver and one in gold. These stars stand for the volunteers who volunteered to rescue the Marines, but also for the three units named after Roberts. The golden star is supposed to represent Roberts himself or the current frigate. The crest consists of a lion , which is supposed to symbolize the spirit of Roberts, the red claws and the tongue stand for his sacrifice for his comrades. The blue collar indicates the award of the Navy Cross . The torch in his hand and the rays emanating from it symbolize the attack capabilities of modern warships.
The ship's motto, “ No higher Honor ” (German: “No greater honor”), is derived from a saying by the commander of USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) , who gave his report on the battle off Samar with the Words concluded:
"In the face of this knowledge, the men zealously manned their stations wherever they might be, and fought and worked with such calmness, courage, and efficiency that no higher honor could be conceived than to command such a group of men."
"In the face of this knowledge, the men zealously manned their battle stations wherever they may have been, and fought and worked with a calm, courage, and efficiency that no greater honor could be conceived than commanding such a group of men."
history
construction
The funds for the construction of the Samuel B. Roberts were approved in 1982, the keel was laid on May 21, 1984 at Bath Iron Works in Bath , Maine . Construction only took a good six months until it was launched on December 8, 1984. The test drives took place in early 1986, and according to the Navy's Board of Inspection , the ship was one of the best in its class ( one of the cleanest [of its class] that the Board has seen ). The official commissioning took place on April 12, 1986, its first commandant was Paul X. Rinn. The first test drives began in 1986.
Operations in the Persian Gulf
In January 1988, the Sammy B. took part in Operation Earnest Will in the Persian Gulf , with Kuwaiti tankers to be safely guided through the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq war .
On April 14, the ship was in international waters north-east of Qatar in a region that had been run through a few days before without incident, a sea mine type M-08 Soviet-made. The mine blasted a five meter hole in the hull, flooding the engine room and tearing both gas turbines from their mounts. The crew fought for seven hours to ensure that the ship would not break apart, which was finally achieved by welding steel straps. 69 seafarers were injured in the explosion and in the fight against flooding and fire, and ten had to be evacuated . Four injured had to be flown to Germany with burns, the others stayed on the ship or were able to return to the ship a few days later.
After mines from the minefield were linked to Iran, the United States launched Operation Praying Mantis , the largest sea-based military strike by the US Navy since the Korean War, in retaliation .
The Samuel B. Roberts was towed to Dubai , where the damage was assessed in a dry dock. It was decided that the ship should be repaired in the USA. For this purpose, the frigate was towed approx. 60 miles out of port on April 28 and loaded onto the Mighty Servant 2 , a dock ship of the Dutch company Dockwise . The MS2 transported the Sammy B. to Bath Iron Works in Maine within a month , where it was towed into dry dock on October 6, 1988. There the ship was repaired, among other things, the engine room section was removed and replaced by a newly fabricated one. It was undocked on April 1, 1989.
The Roberts moved back to the Gulf after the standard tests and participated in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm . Among other things, the Roberts sailed during this time also the Red Sea, where she intercepted freighters and searched some of them. Among them was Red Sea Energy , sailing under the German flag , which was on its way to Yemen and, according to the loading papers, had loaded 246 railway wagons, 86 of which were inaccessible. The ship was towed to a port for investigation.
In 1996, the Samuel B. Roberts conducted exercises with the combat group around the aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) . She was then transferred to Operation Southern Watch in the Gulf for half a year . Also in 1998 the Roberts operated in the region, where they supported an Iranian fishing boat in distress and rescued several fishermen.
Later missions
At the beginning of 2002, the Samuel B. Roberts drove west as part of the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic , i.e. the standing naval forces in the NATO Atlantic. As the only American unit operated the Roberts with ships from the navies of the other member states. This Unified Odyssey (dt .: Joint Odyssey ) mentioned group went to the Portuguese island of Porto Santo , where the first exercises are performed. It simulated humanitarian aid for islanders plagued by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Immediately afterwards the group drove towards Trondheim , Norway , where they spent a week in the port. On March 1, exercise Strong Resolve 2002 began , in which the Samuel B. Roberts defended the Norwegian coast against attackers. After the exercise, the Roberts entered the port of Bergen , after which a port layover was put in Lisbon .
From mid-April, the Roberts took part in Operation Direct Endeavor , a mission in the Mediterranean in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . The group monitored and reported the freight traffic. In total, over 600 ships were monitored by Roberts in the two months . On July 5th, Sammy B. ran back to her home port in Florida.
From September 2003, the Roberts was used in the Eastern Pacific to combat drug smuggling. During the six-month deployment in the waters of Central America and the Caribbean, the crew of the Sammy B. carried out five seizures totaling 10.7 t of cocaine and arrested 29 smugglers.
In 2005 the Samuel B. Roberts took part in the exercise UNITAS 46-05 in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. This was a joint exercise of the US, Panama, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru navies. The purpose of UNITAS was to improve cooperation between states in naval operations, especially the interception of smuggled ships. In addition, anti-submarine hunting and air defense were also rehearsed. Among other things, so-called live-fire exercises , i.e. exercises with live ammunition, were held. The target drones were launched by Sammy B.
In spring 2007 , the exercise Partnership of Americas took part , also with the participation of Sammy B. , in which not only ships from South and Central American navies but also the German Saxony (F 219) took part. From May the frigate was then involved in UNITAS 48-07 , she was in a combat group with USS Pearl Harbor (LSD-52) , USS Mitscher (DDG-57) and the Chilean CS Almirante Latorre (FFG 14) . In September, the frigate was used together with the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) during the relief operation for people affected by Hurricane Felix in Nicaragua. The ships' helicopters brought fresh water and food ashore.
At the beginning of 2010, the Roberts took part in exercises with African navies and docked in Lagos , among others . During exercises with the Nigerian Navy, she collided with the Nigerian warship Burutu . The Burutu was on a collision course and maintained this until both ships clashed on their sides. The Roberts was then repaired and overhauled for $ 370,000, and the commander was reprimanded. In the summer of 2011, the frigate took part in the Africa Partnership Station exercise, during which soldiers from the African navy are trained on it.
literature
- Bradley Peniston: No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B Roberts in the Persian Gulf . Naval Institute Press, 2006, ISBN 1-59114-661-5
Web links
- Samuel B. Roberts on navysite.de (English)
- Website of the book (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Section refers to fas.org
- ↑ Complete paragraph based on the official homepage of the ship ( Memento from February 9, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- ↑ List of the US Navy on gulflink.osd.mil (English)
