History of the USS Jesse L. Brown (DE/FF-1089)

USS Jesse L. Brown (DE/FF-1089): History, Patrols, Crews

Commission

The USS Jesse L. Brown was the thirty eighth ship in the KNOX-class of frigates. Her namesake is Jesse LeRoy Brown, who was the first African-American naval aviator in the United States Navy.

The USS Jesse L. Brown’s contract was awarded to Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana on Aug. 25, 1966. Her keel was laid on April 8, 1971 and she was launched on March 18, 1972. The Jesse L. Brown was commissioned on Feb. 17, 1973.

Underway

The USS Jesse L. Brown’s naval career was spent in the Atlantic Fleet, and was deployed on several occasions to Mediterranean Sea, The Persian Gulf, and northern European waters. She also participated in two joint operations with the navies of several Latin American nations.

In January of 1979, the Jesse L. Brown participated in a near war standoff with Cuba. While stationed in Guantanamo Bay, the USS Farragut accidentally fired upon a Soviet Oceangoing tug and Foxtrot Class submarine being given to the Cuban Navy. Fearing an attack from the Cuban Navy and Air Force, the Jesse L. Brown maintained General Quarters for the next two days. Eventually, the incident ended without any bloodshed.

The Jesse L. Brown was deployed to the Persian Gulf during the Iranian hostage crisis. During this deployment, she rescued a SH-3 Sea King helicopter, which had run out of fuel and could not be refueled in flight. In spite of the limited space on her deck, the Jesse L. Brown successfully recovered the Sea King.

In October of 1979 off of the Ivory Coast, the USS Jesse L. Brown also served as the US liaison for rescue attempts and the recovery of the diving bell from the oil exploration ship, the MV Woodeco 5.

In 1986 the Jesse L. Brown was in the Mediterranean as part of the 6th Fleet during Operation El Dorado Canyon, the bombing of Libya by a joint Air Force/Navy strike force. The attack was ordered after Libya was linked to attacks on U.S. citizens in West Berlin, Vienna and Rome. The Jesse L. Brown served in a support role for the Navy air strikes on the Libyan city of Benghazi and received the Navy Unit Citation for her outstanding performance.

In 1988, the Jesse L. Brown was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation. In 1990 and 1991, she was deployed three times to the Persian Gulf in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. She arrived in the Persian Gulf in the weeks after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, and helped enforce the embargo against Iraq that was mandated by the United Nations. The Jesse L. Brown continued to operate in the region once hostilities against Iraq began on Jan. 17, 1991. She would receive the Joint Navy Unit Citation upon the completion of each of the three deployments to Southwest Asia.

During the later 1980s and early 1990s, she was also engaged in counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean.

Decommissioning

The USS Jesse L. Brown was decommissioned on June 27, 1994, and was stricken from the Navy list on January 11, 1995. She was sold to the Egyptian Navy and renamed the Damyat and continued to serve through the end of the 20th Century.

Characteristics of the USS Jesse L. Brown (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Class and type: Knox-class frigate
Displacement: 3,201 tons (4,182 tons full load)
Length: 438 ft (134 m) Beam: 46 ft 9 in (14.2 m)
Draught: 24 ft 9 in (7.5 m)
Propulsion: 2 × CE 1200psi boilers
1 Westinghouse geared turbine
1 shaft, 35,000 SHP (26 MW)
Speed: 28 1/2knots in service Boats and landing
craft carried: 26' Motor Whale Boat and Captain's Gig in port and starboard powered davits mounted amidships
Complement: 18 officers, 267 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems: AN/SPS-40C Air Search Radar
Originally AN/SPS-10F Surface Search Radar, later AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar
AN/SQS-26 Sonar
AN/SQR-18 Towed array sonar system
Mk68 Gun Fire Control System
Electronic warfare and decoys: Originally equipped with AN/SLQ-26 Electronic Warfare System consisting of AN/WLR-1C (Mod) with AN/ULQ-6C. Later removed and replaced by AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite
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 Phalanx CIWS
Aircraft carried: one SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter
Aviation facilities: Retracting Hanger forward of flight deck. Flight deck originally designed for the canceled "DASH" robotic ASW helicopter. Expanded and modified to support LAMPS program

Career:

Ordered: Aug. 25, 1966
Builder: Avondale Shipyard, New Orleans, Louisiana
Laid down: April 8, 1971
Launched: March 18, 1972
Acquired: Dec. 8, 1972
Commissioned: Feb. 18, 1973
Decommissioned: July 27, 1994
Struck: Jan. 11, 1995
Fate: Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program, and transferred to Egypt as Domyat

Timeline:

August 1966: USS Jesse L. Brown ordered
April 1971: Keel of USS Jesse L. Brown laid
March 1972: USS Jesse L. Brown launched
December 1972: USS Jesse L. Brown commissioned
January 1979: USS Jesse L. Brown in standoff with Cuban Navy
October 1979: USS Jesse L. Brown participates in the recovery of the MV Woodeco 5
1990-91: USS Jesse L. Brown takes part in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm
January 1992: USS Jesse L. Brown transferred to the Naval Reserve
June 1994: USS Jesse L. Brown decommissioned

Crewmembers of the USS Jesse L. Brown:

An unofficial list of crew members that served on the USS Jesse L. Brown 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_1089

John Reed (Served January 3, 1988 – January 3, 1990): “My first ship. She made an impression that has lasted a life time. I would go back and serve on her again in a heart beat!”

Christopher Dennis (Served August 1989 – January 1992): “The best time I ever had in my life. I literally grew up on this ship.”

Links:

http://www.mesotheliomaweb.org/destroyerspostwwii.htm
http://navysite.de/crew.php?action=ship&ship=ff_1089
http://navysite.de/ff/ff1089.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jesse_L._Brown_(FF-1089)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_L._Brown

To receive a FREE Mesothelioma Web information packet** or to make a request, please fill out the following form :

**For a FREE information packet including treatments, clinical trials, and specialists, please complete the form above or call a Mesothelioma Web coordinator at 1-877-367-6376.

News

Resources

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here