Brooke-class frigate

USS Brooke (FFG-1)
Class overview
Builders	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, WA Bath Iron Works
Operators	US Navy
Preceded by	Garcia class frigate
Succeeded by	Knox class frigate and Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate
Built	1962–1968
In commission	1966–1989
Planned	19
Completed	6
Retired	6
General characteristics
Type	Guided missile frigate
Displacement	2,640 tons std 3,426 tons full
Length	414 ft (126 m)
Beam	44 ft (13 m)
Draft	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) (keel) 24 ft (7.3 m) (sonar)
Propulsion	2 Foster-Wheeler boilers, 1 GE (1-3) or Westinghouse (4-6) geared turbine, 35,000 shp, 1 screw
Speed	27.2 knots
Range	4,000 nautical miles
Complement	14 officers, 214 crew
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-52 3D air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar AN/SQS-26 bow mounted sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32
Armament	1x5"/38 caliber gun 1x Mk 22 RIM-24 Tartar/RIM-66 Standard missile launcher (16 missiles) 1x8 cell ASROC launcher 2x3 12.75 in (324mm) Mk 32 torpedo tubes, Mk 46 torpedoes 2 x MK 37 torpedo tubes (fixed, stern, removed later)
Aircraft carried	1 SH-2 Seasprite

The Brooke class was a United States Navy frigate class that is based on the Garcia class, but with the addition of the Tartar Guided Missile Fire Control System. The first unit was commissioned in 1966 and the final sixth unit was decommissioned in 1989.

Description

Brooke class ships were nearly identical to the Garcia class, except the second 5"/38 caliber gun was replaced with a Tartar missile system and electronics. Brooke class ships also had the AN/SPS-52 3D air search radar instead of the two dimension AN/SPS-40 and added the AN/SPG-51 for target tracking and missile guidance. The Mk 22, single arm, 16 missile launcher was placed midships.

FFG-1 through FFG-3 had a Westinghouse geared steam turbine while FFG-4 through FFG-6 employed a General Electric turbine. All ships had two Foster-Wheeler boilers. FFG-4 through FFG-6 had an angled base of the bridge structure behind the ASROC launcher for automatic reloading.

The Brooke class was originally designed to carry the DASH drone, but were later equipped with LAMPS SH-2 Seasprite after the hangar was enlarged.

Oliver Hazard Perry class systems were evaluated on USS Talbot (FFG-4) including the Otobreda 76 mm gun, the AN/SQS-56 sonar and other systems.

Initially authorized as guided missile destroyer escorts (DEG), FFG-1 through FFG-3 were authorized in FY1962 while FFG-4 through FFG-6 were authorized in FY1963. Plans called for ten more ships to be authorized in FY1964 and possibly three more in later years, but those plans were dropped because of the $11 million higher cost of the DEG over an FF.

Units

Ship Name	Hull No.	Builder	Commission– Decommission	Fate	Link
USS Brooke (FFG-1)	FFG-1	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle	1966–1988	Disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994	[1]
USS Ramsey (FFG-2)	FFG-2	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle	1967–1988	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, 15 June 2000	[2]
USS Schofield (FFG-3)	FFG-3	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle	1968–1988	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, 11/02/1999	[3]
USS Talbot (FFG-4)	FFG-4	Bath Iron Works	1967–1988	Disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994	[4]
USS Richard L. Page (FFG-5)	FFG-5	Bath Iron Works	1967–1988	Disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994	[5]
USS Julius A. Furer (FFG-6)	FFG-6	Bath Iron Works	1967–1989	Disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994	[6]

Gallery

• 
  Talbot with angled bridge structure for automated ASROC loading.
• 
  Ramsey's SPS-52, black panel at center and AN/SPG-51, dish at right.
• 
  Schofield underway near San Diego, CA

External links

• Brooke-class guided missile frigates at Destroyer History Foundation
• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ffg-1.htm