USS ''Boone'' (FFG-28) was the twentieth ship in the
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 ...
's of
guided missile 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 ...
s.
The frigate was named for Vice Admiral
Joel Thompson Boone, M.D. (1889–1974). FFG-28, the first U.S. ship to bear the admiral's name, was ordered 23 January 1978,
launched 16 January 1980 by
Todd Pacific Shipyards
Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United St ...
, and
commissioned 15 May 1982. She has since earned numerous awards and commendations.
History
On 30 November 2006, the rudder fell off Mayport-based frigate ''Boone'' while on deployment in the western Mediterranean. The mishap forced the ship to send out a call for help to which Canadian
destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort
larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...
responded, providing divers who inspected the ship's underside. Within 24 hours, ''Boone'' was being towed to
Rota for repairs by the German Navy's replenishment oiler
''Spessart''. The ship was not adrift or totally dead in the water because its two 350-horsepower auxiliary propulsion units provided a "limited amount of maneuverability." The lost rudder was replaced 27 December and, after a day of operational testing, ''Boone'' got underway again on 28 December.
''Boone'' was assigned to
Destroyer Squadron 14 and was the recipient of the 2005 DESRON 14
Battle "E". On 16 February 2007, she was awarded the 2006 Battle "E" award.
''Boone'' was homeported in
Mayport, Florida
Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities on San Pablo Island. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, wh ...
, and was a member of the
Navy Reserve. In March 2010, she was assigned to the
United States Fifth Fleet
The Fifth Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. Its area of responsibility encompasses approximately 2.5 million square miles, and includes the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean. It shares a comma ...
fighting
Somali piracy
Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel, and Indian Ocean, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding places and has a long troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. I ...
.
''Boone'' was decommissioned on 23 February 2012.
Sinking
On 18 August 2022, ''Boone'' was towed to
Campbeltown
Campbeltown (; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre Peninsula. Campbeltown became an important centre for Scotch whisky, and a busy fishing port.
The 2018 populatio ...
,
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
to be sunk as part of a
SINKEX
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunit ...
involving
Harpoon
A harpoon is a long, spear-like projectile used in fishing, whaling, sealing, and other hunting to shoot, kill, and capture large fish or marine mammals such as seals, sea cows, and whales. It impales the target and secures it with barb or ...
missiles fired by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
Type 23 frigate , to test a new US targeting satellite. The SINKEX took place on 7 September 2022 with the participation of both US and UK forces. From the sea, she was struck by two Harpoon anti-ship missiles fired by HMS ''Westminster'' and an
SM-6 from . Meanwhile, from the air, she was struck by two Paveway IV laser-guided bombs from Royal Air Force
Typhoon
A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
fighters, two
JDAM
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or "dumb bombs", into all-weather precision-guided munitions (PGMs). JDAM-equipped bombs are guided by an integrated inertial guidance system coupled to a Gl ...
s from US Air Force
F-15 Eagle
The McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle is an American twin-engine, all-weather fighter aircraft designed by McDonnell Douglas (now part of Boeing). Following reviews of proposals, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected McDonnell Douglas's des ...
s, a
Martlet missile from ''Westminster's''
Wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
helicopter and a Harpoon anti-ship missile from a US Navy
P-8 Poseidon
The Boeing P-8 Poseidon is an American maritime patrol aircraft, maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft developed and produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. It was developed for the United States Navy as a derivative of the civilian ...
.
References
Further reading
*
External links
USS ''Boone'' Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boone (FFG-28)
1980 ships
Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates of the United States Navy
Ships built in Seattle
Ships sunk as targets