History of the USS Francis Hammond (DE/FF-1067)

USS Francis Hammond (DE/FF-1067): History, Patrols, Crews

Commissioning

The USS Francis Hammond, (DE/FF-1067: frigate), was named for Francis Hammond, a sailor during the Korean War who won a posthumous Medal of Honor. Francis Hammond was part of the United States Navy’s Knox class of frigates, the sixteenth boat in the class. Todd Pacific Shipyards of Los Angeles earned the contract in July of 1964 and laid down her keel on July 15, 1967. Francis Hammond launched on May 11, 1968. She was commissioned on July 25, 1970 at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, carrying two hundred eighty-seven enlisted men and eighteen officers, under the command of CDR John E. Elmore.

Underway

At the time of its launch, Francis Hammond was classified as a destroyer escort (DE). Her initial mission, along with the rest of her class, was to act as anti-submarine escorts to protect destroyers and other ships. She served with honor during the last days of the Vietnam War, earning a Vietnam Service Medal and a Vietnam Campaign Medal along with her many other commendations. In June of 1975, she was reclassified as a frigate (FF) as part of a Navy-wide reclassification system.

During her time of service, Francis Hammond spent most of her life in the Western Pacific (WestPac), including stops in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Yokosuka, Japan, and Subic Bay, Philippines. In May of 1982, while stationed in Subic Bay, the USS Fletcher (DD-992) collided with Francis Hammond and USS Towers (DDG-9) while trying to moor itself alongside the other two ships. She participated in the “Cope Diamond” joint service exercise near the Philippines on February 1, 1983 and the joint US/Republic of Korea “Team Spirit ‘87” exercise on April 15, 1987. On October 1, 1987, she sailed with a group that included the frigates USS Kirk (FF-1087), USS Knox (FF-1052) and USS Lockwood (FF-1064), the guided missile destroyer USS Towers (DDG-9) and the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-47).

During late 1990 and early 1991, Francis Hammond served the fleet during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. She earned both the Kuwaiti and Saudi versions of the Kuwait Liberation Medal and returned to Pearl Harbor in June of 1991.

Decommissioning

Francis Hammond was decommissioned on July 2, 1992 and stricken from the Naval Register on January 1, 1995 as part of the phase-out of the Knox-class frigates. She sat in the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, Washington until she was scrapped and dismantled March 31, 2003.

Characteristics of the USS Francis Hammond (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Class and type: Knox-class frigate
Displacement: 3243 tons
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: Francis Hammond, a Medal of Honor winner
Ordered: 22 July 1964
Builder: Todd Pacific Shipyards
Laid down: 15 July 1967
Launched: 11 May 1968
Commissioned: 25 July 1970
Struck: 11 January 1995
Fate: Scrapped

Timeline:

July 1967 - USS Francis Hammond keel laid down
May 1968 – USS Francis Hammond launched
July 1970 – USS Francis Hammond commissioned
June 1975 – USS Francis Hammond reclassified from destroyer escort to frigate
May 1982 – USS Francis Hammond struck by USS Fletcher in mooring accident
February 1983 – USS Francis Hammond participated in Cope Diamond joint service exercise near Philippines
April 1987 – USS Francis Hammond participated in joint US/ROK exercise Team Spirit ‘87
Early 1991– USS Francis Hammond deployed to Persian Gulf to support Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations
October 1995 – USS Francis Hammond decommissioned
January 1995 – USS Francis Hammond stricken from Naval Vessel Register
March 2003 – USS Francis Hammond scrapped

Crewmembers of the USS Patterson:

An unofficial list of crewmembers that served on the USS Francis Hammond 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/crew.php?action=ship&ship=FF_1067

Mike Campbell: (Served from January 1984 - May 1986) “Great Times aboard the Franny Maru! I am in contact with others from 84-86, so drop me an e-mail former Sonar/Torpedo Gang!”

Greg Lafrance: (Served from April 1984 – December 1986) “I often think of my time on the Francis Hammond. Cary Casio, Yates, Seabot. Remember studying Japanese at the Yokosuka Dunkin Donuts! Got my BA in Japanese, then my MBA, then worked in Japan 2 years. Now I'm at a software company. Yo Cary!”

Pete Frotten: (Served from December 1986 – August 1988) “Doesn't anyone else from E division do E mail? Anyone remember the ship's van with the "SUB-BUSTERS" cartoon painted on the side, or the huge Japanese battle flag painted on the entrance to Main Control?”

John Niederhofer: (Served September 1986 – January 1991) “Pusan, Subic Bay(Barrio), Manilla, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Karache, Phuket, Yokosuka, Ropongi, Yokohama, Hawaii, Long Beach, San Francisco, Capitola, Morro Bay Rock, SLO,Eureka,Portland, Victoria, Astoria, Lots of lonely women Need I say more?”

Michael Harris: (Served December 1990 – October 1991) “My first ship on the west coast. I Became a Shellback, went to War, hit the P.I. and Thailand, and met people that touched me so profoundly, I'll never ever forget them. All this S#!t in less than a year. “

Links:

http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/destroyerspostwwii.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Francis Hammond_(FF-1067)
http://navysite.de/crew.php?action=ship&ship=FF_1067
http://www.navsource.org/archives/06/06021067.htm

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