Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate

Design and construction

The ships were designed by the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine in partnership with the New York-based naval architects Gibbs & Cox.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships were produced in 445-foot (136 m) long "short-hull" (Flight I) and 453-foot (138 m) long "long-hull" (Flight III) variants. The long-hull ships (FFG 8, 28, 29, 32, 33, and 36-61) carry the larger SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters, while the short-hulled warships carry the smaller and less-capable SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I. Aside from the lengths of their hulls, the principal difference between the versions is the location of the aft capstan: on long-hull ships, it sits a step below the level of the flight deck in order to provide clearance for the tail rotor of the longer Seahawk helicopters. The long-hull ships also carry the RAST (Recovery Assist Securing and Traversing) system (also known as a Beartrap (hauldown device)) for the Seahawk, a hook, cable, and winch system that can reel in a Seahawk from a hovering flight, expanding the ship's pitch-and-roll range in which flight operations are permitted. The FFG 8, 29, 32, and 33 were built as "short-hull" warships but were later modified into "long-hull" warships. Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were the second class of surface ship (after the Spruance-class destroyers) in the US Navy to be built with gas turbine propulsion. The gas turbine propulsion plant was more automated than other Navy propulsion plants at the time and could be centrally monitored and controlled from a remote engineering control center away from the engines. The gas turbine propulsion plants also allowed the ship's speed to be controlled directly from the bridge via a throttle control, a first for the US Navy.

American shipyards constructed Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships for the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Early American-built Australian ships were originally built as the "short-hull" version, but they were modified during the 1980s to the "long-hull" design. Shipyards in Australia, Spain, and Taiwan have produced several warships of the "long-hull" design for their navies.

Although the per-ship costs rose greatly over the period of production, all 51 ships planned for the U.S. Navy were built.

During the design phase of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, R.J. Daniels, was invited by an old friend, US Chief of the Bureau of Ships, Adm Robert C Gooding, to advise upon the use of variable-pitch propellers in the class. During the course of this conversation, Daniels warned Gooding against the use of aluminium in the superstructure of the FFG-7 class as he believed it would lead to structural weaknesses. A number of ships subsequently developed structural cracks, including a 40 ft (12 m) fissure in USS Duncan, before the problems were remedied.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were designed primarily as anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare guided-missile warships intended to provide open-ocean escort of amphibious warfare ships and merchant ship convoys in moderate threat environments in a potential war with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries. They could also provide air defense against 1970s- and 1980s-era aircraft and anti-ship missiles. These warships are equipped to escort and protect aircraft carrier battle groups, amphibious landing groups, underway replenishment groups, and merchant ship convoys. They can conduct independent operations to perform such tasks as surveillance of illegal drug smugglers, maritime interception operations, and exercises with other nations.

The addition of the Naval Tactical Data System, LAMPS helicopters, and the Tactical Towed Array System (TACTAS) gave these warships a combat capability far beyond the original expectations. They are well suited to operations in littoral regions, and for most war-at-sea scenarios.

Notable combat actions

Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates made worldwide news during the 1980s. Despite being small, these frigates were shown to be extremely durable. During the Iran–Iraq War, on 17 May 1987, USS Stark was attacked by an Iraqi warplane. Struck by two Exocet anti-ship missiles, thirty-seven U.S. Navy sailors died in the deadly prelude to the American Operation Earnest Will, the reflagging and escorting of oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz.

Less than a year later, on 14 April 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts was nearly sunk by an Iranian mine. No lives were lost, but 10 sailors were evacuated from the warship for medical treatment. The crew of Samuel B. Roberts battled fire and flooding for two days, ultimately managing to save the ship. The U.S. Navy retaliated four days later with Operation Praying Mantis, a one-day attack on Iranian oil platforms being used as bases for raids on merchant shipping. Those had included bases for the minelaying operations that damaged Samuel B. Roberts. Both frigates were repaired in American shipyards and returned to full service. Stark was decommissioned in 1999, and scrapped in 2006.

On April 18, 1988, USS Simpson was accompanying the cruiser USS Wainwright and frigate USS Bagley when they came under attack from the Iranian gunboat Joshan which fired a U.S. made Harpoon missile at the ships. With Simpson having the only clear shot, the frigate fired an SM-1 standard missile which struck Joshan. Simpson fired three more SM-1s, and with later naval fire from Wainwright, sank the Iranian vessel.

Durability

On July 14, 2016, USS Thach took over 12 hours to sink after being used in a live-fire, SINKEX during naval exercise RIMPAC 2016. During the exercise, the ship was directly or indirectly hit with the following ordnance: a Harpoon missile from a South Korean submarine, another Harpoon missile from the Australian frigate HMAS Ballarat, a Hellfire missile from an Australian SH-60S helicopter, another Harpoon missile and a Maverick missile from US maritime patrol aircraft, another Harpoon missile from the cruiser USS Princeton, additional Hellfire missiles from an American SH-60S Navy helicopter, a 2,000-pound Mark 84 bomb from a US Navy F/A-18 Hornet, a GBU-12 Paveway laser-guided 500-pound bomb from a US Air Force B-52 bomber, and a Mark 48 torpedo from an unnamed US Navy submarine.

United States

The U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy modified their remaining Perrys to reduce their operating costs, replacing Detroit Diesel Company 16V149TI electrical generators with Caterpillar, Inc.- 3512B diesel engines.

In mid-2000, the U.S.Navy removed the frigates' Mk 13 single-arm missile launchers and magazines because the primary missile, the Standard SM-1MR, had became outmoded.

The "zone-defense" anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) capability has vanished, and all that remains is a "point-defense" type of anti-air warfare armament. It would supposedly have been too costly to refit the Standard SM-1MR missiles, which had little ability to bring down sea-skimming missiles. Another reason is to allow more SM-1MRs to go to American allies that operate Perrys, such as Poland, Spain, Australia, Turkey, and Taiwan.

The removal of the launchers also stripped the frigates of their Harpoon anti-ship missiles. However, their Seahawk helicopters could still carry the much shorter-range Penguin and Hellfire anti-ship missiles.

The last nine ships of the class had new remotely operated 25 mm Mk 38 Mod 2 Naval Gun Systems installed on platforms over the old MK 13 launcher magazine.

Up to 2002, the U.S. Navy updated the remaining active Oliver Hazard Perry-class warships' Phalanx CIWS to the "Block 1B" capability, which allowed the Mk 15 20 mm Phalanx gun to shoot at fast-moving surface craft and helicopters. They were also to have been fitted with the Mk 53 DLS "Nulka" missile decoy system, in place of the SRBOC (Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff) and flares, which would have better protected the ship against anti-ship missiles. It had been planned to outfit the remaining ships with a 32-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher at the location of the former Mk-13, but this did not occur.

On May 11, 2009, the first International Frigate Working Group met in Mayport Naval Station to discuss maintenance, obsolescence and logistics issues regarding Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships of the U.S. and foreign navies.

On June 16, 2009, Vice Admiral Barry McCullough turned down the suggestion of then-U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) to keep the Perrys in service, citing their worn-out and maxed-out condition. However, U.S. Representative Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) and former U.S. Representative Gene Taylor (D-MS) took up the cause to retain the vessels.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were to have been eventually be replaced by Littoral Combat Ships by 2019. However, the worn out frigates were being retired faster than the LCSs are being built, which may lead to a gap in United States Southern Command mission coverage. According to Navy deactivation plans, all Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates will be retired by October 2015. Simpson was the last to be retired, on 29 September 2015, leaving the Navy devoid of frigates for the first time since 1943. The ships will either be made available for sale to foreign navies or dismantled. Perry-class frigate retirement was accelerated by budget pressures, which will lead to the remaining 11 ships being replaced by only eight LCS hulls. With the timeline LCS mission packages will come online unknown, there is uncertainty if they will be able to perform the frigates' counter-narcotics and anti-submarine roles when they are gone. The Navy is looking into Military Sealift Command to see if the Joint High Speed Vessel, Mobile Landing Platform, and other auxiliary ships could handle low-end missions that the frigates performed.

The U.S. Coast Guard is harvesting weapons systems components from decommissioned Navy Perry-class frigates to save money. Harvesting components from four decommissioned frigates results in more than $24 million in cost savings, which increases with parts from more decommissioned frigates. Equipment including Mk 75, 76 mm/62 caliber gun mounts, gun control panels, barrels, launchers, junction boxes, and other components will be returned to service aboard Famous-class cutters to extend their service lives into the 2030s.

Australia

Australia is spending A$1.46bn to upgrade Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Adelaide-class guided-missile frigates, including equipping them to fire the SM-2 version of the Standard missile, adding an eight-cell Mk-41 vertical launch system for Evolved Sea Sparrow missiles, and installing better air-search radars and long-range sonar.

The first of the upgraded frigates, HMAS Sydney, returned to the RAN fleet in 2005. Each of the four frigates to be upgraded have the work at the Garden Island shipyard in Sydney, Australia, with the modernizations lasting between 18 months and two years. These frigates are planned to be replaced starting in 2013 by three new Hobart-class air warfare destroyers equipped with the AEGIS combat system. However, the third of those destroyers will not be commissioned until 2017, at the earliest.

The cost will be partly offset, in the short run, by the decommissioning and disposal of the two older frigates. HMAS Canberra was decommissioned on 12 November 2005 at naval base HMAS Stirling in Western Australia, and HMAS Adelaide was decommissioned at that same naval base on 20 January 2008. HMAS Sydney was decommissioned at the Garden Island naval base in 2016.

Turkey

The Turkish Navy had commenced the modernization of its G-class frigates with the GENESIS (Gemi Entegre Savaş İdare Sistemi) combat management system in 2007. The first GENESIS upgraded ship was delivered in 2007, and the last delivery is scheduled for 2011. The "short-hull" Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates that are currently part of the Turkish Navy were modified with the ASIST landing platform system at the Gölcük Naval Shipyard, so that they can accommodate the S-70B Seahawk helicopters. Turkey is planning to add one eight-cell Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) for the Evolved Sea Sparrow missile, to be installed forward of the present Mk 13 missile launchers, similar to the case in the modernization program of the Australian Adelaide-class frigates. TCG Gediz was the first ship in the class to receive the Mk 41 VLS installation. There are also plans for new components to be installed that are being developed for the Milgem-class warships (Ada-class corvettes and F-100-class frigates) of the Turkish Navy. These include modern Three-dimensional and X-band radars developed by Aselsan and Turkish-made hull-mounted sonars. One of the G-class frigates will also be used as a test-bed for Turkey's 6,000+ ton TF2000-class AAW frigates that are currently being designed by the Turkish Naval Institute.

Operators

Potential operators

Related legislation

On April 7, 2014, the United States House of Representatives voted to pass the Taiwan Relations Act Affirmation and Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2014 (H.R. 3470; 113th Congress), a bill that would allow eight more Perry frigates to be transferred to foreign countries. The bill would authorize the President to transfer Curts and McClusky to Mexico, and Rentz and Vandegrift to Thailand. The bill would also authorize the President to sell four units (Taylor, Gary, Carr, and Elrod) to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office of the United States (which is the Taiwan agency designated pursuant to the Taiwan Relations Act) for about $10 million each.