The ''Brooke'' class was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

class based on the design of the , but with the addition of the Tartar Guided Missile System. The first unit was commissioned in 1966 and the final sixth unit was decommissioned in 1989. __TOC__

Description

''Brooke''-class ships were nearly identical to the ''Garcia'' class, except the second 5-inch/38 caliber gun was replaced with a Mk.22 single arm missile launcher and the requisite Mk.74 Guided Missile Fire Control System to control it. Air search capabilities were provided by the AN/SPS-52 three dimension air search radar, which displaced the two dimension AN/SPS-40 carried on the ''Garcia'' class. FFG-1 through FFG-3 had a Westinghouse geared steam turbine while FFG-4 through FFG-6 employed a

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turbine. All ships had two

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boilers. FFG-4 through FFG-6 had an angled base of the bridge structure behind the

ASROC The RUR-5 ASROC (for "Anti-Submarine Rocket") is an all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system. Developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, it was deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s, and eventually installed ...

launcher for automatic reloading, displacing the loading crane carried on previous ships. The ''Brooke'' class originally carried the DASH drone, but were later equipped with LAMPS

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after the hangar was enlarged. systems were evaluated on including the 76 mm Mk.75 gun, the AN/SQS-56 sonar and other systems. Initially classified as guided missile destroyer escorts (DEG), the class were redesignated as guided missile frigates (FFG) under the

United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification The United States Navy reclassified many of its surface vessels in 1975, changing terminology and hull classification symbols for cruisers, frigates, and ocean escorts. Classification prior to 1975 From the 1950s to 1975, the US Navy had three ...

. 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 a DE.

Ships in class

Gallery

Image:USS Talbot (FFG-4) ASROC Panama Canal.jpg, ''Talbot'' with angled bridge structure for automated ASROC loading. Image:USS Ramsey (FFG-2) radar and electronic equipment.jpg, ''Ramseys SPS-52, black panel at center and AN/SPG-51, dish at right. Image:USS Schofield (FFG-3) stbd beam view.jpg, ''Schofield'' underway near San Diego, CA

Notes

External links

''Brooke''-class guided missile frigates
a
Destroyer
{{Brooke class frigate Brooke class frigates Brooke Brooke