Commissioning
The USS Fanning, (DE/FF-1076: frigate), was named for LT Nathaniel Fanning, an officer who served under John Paul Jones during the Revolutionary War and was the third ship to bear that name. Fanning was part of the United States Navy’s Knox class of frigates, the twenty-fifth boat in the class. Todd Pacific Shipyards of Los Angeles earned the contract in July of 1964 and laid down her keel on December 7, 1968. Fanning launched on January 24, 1970. She was commissioned on July 23, 1971, carrying two hundred eighty-seven enlisted men and eighteen officers, under the command of CDR P. Treagy, Jr.
Underway
After completion of her shakedown cruise and post-delivery availabilities, Fanning made her first deployment on December 6, 1972. During her deployment off the coast of Vietnam, she carried out naval gunfire support and carrier escort operations. She made it to her homeport on June 23, 1973.
She deployed for her second time on September 2, 1974, after she received equipment to support boarding of a helicopter detachment. Fanning, along with USS Turner Joy (DD 951), deployed with the Surface Combatant Force as part of the U.S. Seventh Fleet. Fanning also carried on escort operations for the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV 41) while in the Indian Ocean. During this time, Fanning hosted then-Secretary of the Navy Middendorf. In July of 1975, Fanning was reclassified from a destroyer escort (DE) to a frigate (FF) as part of a Navy-wide directive.
Fanning took part in Bicentennial festivities in 1976 in Port San Luis and San Francisco. The following November, Fanning was involved in the rating of the new MK 15 Vulcan Phalanx Close-In Weapons System. She finished the year gearing up for her first scheduled overhaul to be carried out in San Francisco during 1977. During this overhaul, she suffered a minor boiler explosion, injuring three workers.
Fanning went on her fourth deployment on September 8, 1979 to fill her role with a surface combatant task group. She was involved in contingency plans in the East Asia Sea after the assassination of the President of South Korea. She was also one of the first U.S. ships to send an on-site report from the North Arabian Sea after fundamentalist Islamic students took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran. Fanning went back to San Diego on March 29, 1980.
While on deployment in 1981, Fanning completed three rescue missions, saving a total of nearly a hundred Vietnamese refugees. She also earned a Meritorious Unit Citation for her accomplishments on that deployment.
Her deployment the following year started on October 30, still with a surface combatant task force. She took part in many substantial two-party naval exercises, most notably Team Spirit. Fanning came back to San Diego on May 14, 1983, and readied for its second scheduled overhaul on July 20, this one carried out in San Diego.
Fanning finished a deployment in the Western Pacific in 1985 and became an important component of the standing surface ASW (anti-submarine warfare) force in 1986. She took part in many important ASW operations as part of this task force. Fanning made deployments in the Arabian Gulf and Western Pacific in 1988 and 1990.
Fanning also carried out the first refueling at sea from a submarine tender, USS Dixon (AS 37), in December 1992. She finished her last deployment in January 1993. For the third and final time, Fanning deployed to the Arabian Gulf. Her primary mission was to support Operation Southern Watch. Fanning took part in many noteworthy military exercises, including the Russians and the navies of four other nations. She also escorted the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Topeka (SSN 754), the first US nuclear submarine to sail into the Persian Gulf. Fanning also spearheaded procedures to re-supply ships at sea in a similar fashion as did its first namesake.
Decommissioning
Fanning was decommissioned on July 31, 1993 and stricken from the Naval Register on January 11, 1995 as part of the phase-out of the Knox-class frigates. She was transferred to the Turkish Navy and renamed Adatepe at her decommissioning.
Characteristics of the USS Fanning (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
Class and type: Knox-class frigate
Displacement: 3202 tons (4,183 full load)
Length: 438 ft (133.5 m)
Beam: 46.75 ft (14.25 m)
Draft: 24.75 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion: 2 × CE 1200psi boilers
1 Westinghouse geared turbine
1 shaft, 35,000 shp (26 MW)
Speed: 27 knots (50 kph)
Complement: 18 officers, 287 enlisted
Armament: one Mk-16 8 cell missile launcher for ASROC and Harpoon missiles
one Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber gun
Mark 46 torpedoes from four single tube launchers)
one Mk-25 BPDMS launcher for Sea Sparrow missiles later replaced by one Phalanx CIWS
Career:
Namesake: LT Nathaniel Fanning, a Revolutionary War naval hero
Ordered: 22 July 1964
Builder: Todd Pacific Shipyards
Laid down: 7 December 1968
Launched: 24 January 1970
Commissioned: 23 July 1971
Struck: 11 January 1995
Fate: Transferred to Turkish Navy and renamed Adetepe
Timeline:
December 1968 – USS Fanning keel laid down
January 1970 – USS Fanning launched
July 1971 – USS Fanning commissioned
December 1972 – USS Fanning made first deployment to Gulf of Tonkin
September 1973 – USS Fanning made second deployment with US Seventh Fleet
June 1975 – USS Fanning reclassified from destroyer escort to frigate
July 1976 – USS Fanning participated in Bicentennial festivities
November 1976 – USS Fanning participated in weapons trials
February 1977 – USS Fanning suffered a boiler explosion during overhaul in San Francisco
September 1979 – USS Fanning made fourth deployment with a surface combatant task group
November 1979 – USS Fanning reported on takeover of US Embassy in Tehran, Iran
March 1980 – USS Fanning returned to San Diego
Early 1981 – USS Fanning took part in three rescue operations, saving almost one hundred Vietnamese refugees and earning Meritorious Unit Citation
May 1983 – USS Fanning returned to San Diego
July 1983 – USS Fanning underwent second overhaul in San Diego
Early 1986 – USS Fanning became part of ASW force
December 1992 – USS Fanning carried out the first refueling at sea from a submarine tender, USS Dixon (AS 37)
July 1993 – USS Fanning decommissioned, transferred to Turkish Navy and renamed Adetepe
January 1995 – USS Fanning stricken from Naval Vessel Register
Crewmembers of the USS Fanning:
An unofficial list of crewmembers that served on the USS Fanning can be found on the unofficial navy website at: http://navysite.de. This list is compiled by former crewmembers that voluntarily register. Some quoted comments from former crewmembers are listed below; many more are available on the source website at the following web address:
http://navysite.de/crewlist/commandlist.php?commandid=557.
Chris Christianson: (Served from 1970 – 1973) “She was a DE1076 when commissioned. I see Mack McDevitt name on the list. Someone I remember He helped tack on one of my stripes.”
Daniel P. Ruiz: (Served from July 1974 – April 1976) “Made E-7 on FF1076 Transferred 1976 to AR7 weld shop Ret. 6,30,1981 at FF school Treasure Island.SF CA. GO NAVY”
Michael Karst: (Served from September 1977 – January 1981) “Mustered onboard during BLOH at Hunters Pt. Worked on MT51. Remember good times at 711 Club and other locations with Jim”Boo” Boston and GMG2 Mike Bates. Have vivid memories of San Francisco, San Diego and WestPac ’79. Retired from USNR.”
Troy Martin: (Served from 1982 – 1985) “One overhaul, TAD to Tacan and IFF school, West Pac and Sea Trials…I should have stayed single and went back to Australia”
Vincent Cuasay: (Served January 1991 – June 1993) “I was part of the decommissioning crew and I’m hoping to get in contact with my old shipmates. ANDREAS LAMBIRIS where are you buddy? “
Links:
http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/mesothelioma/veterans/navy-destroyers-post-ww2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Fanning_(FF-1076)
http://navysite.de/crewlist/commandlist.php?commandid=557
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/06021076.htm
