USS Kirk (FF-1087)
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USS Kirk
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | GBE sosa |
| Owner: | United States: Leased to Taiwan |
| Ordered: | 25 August 1966 |
| Builder: | Avondale Shipyard, Westwego, Louisiana |
| Laid down: | 4 December 1970 |
| Launched: | 25 September 1971 |
| Acquired: | 27 August 1972 |
| Commissioned: | 9 September 1972 |
| Decommissioned: | 6 August 1993 |
| Struck: | 11 January 1995 |
| Fate: | Transferred to Taiwan, as Fen Yang |
 Taiwan
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| Name: | Fen Yang (Chinese: 汾陽) |
| Acquired: |
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| Commissioned: | 6 August 1993 |
| Identification: | 934 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Knox-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 3,221 tons (4,202 full load) |
| Length: | 438 ft (134 m) |
| Beam: | 46 ft 9 in (14.25 m) |
| Draught: | 24 ft 9 in (7.54 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | over 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) |
| Complement: | 18 officers, 267 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Electronic warfare & decoys: |
AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 1 × SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter |
USS Kirk was a Knox-class destroyer escort, originally designated as DE-1087 and reclassified as a frigate, FF-1087 (1975), in the United States Navy. Her primary mission of ASW remained unchanged. She was named for Admiral Alan Goodrich Kirk.
Her contract was awarded to Avondale Marine on 25 August 1966. Kirk was laid down on 4 December 1970, launched on 25 September 1971 and commissioned on 9 September 1972.
In April 1975 Kirk participated in Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon, Vietnam.
As part of the U.S. fleet sent to facilitate the evacuation of Americans from South Vietnam, USS Kirk carried out one of the most significant humanitarian missions in U.S. military history. Under the direction of a civilian, Richard Armitage, Kirk rescued the South Vietnamese Navy, and along with it, tens of thousands of Vietnamese refugees, and led them to the Philippines. From there, most of the refugees ultimately emigrated to the United States.
During the evacuation, it became a makeshift landing zone for a stream of helicopters flown by South Vietnamese airmen fleeing for their lives with their families and friends on board. Having only a small helipad, Kirk had nowhere to store the helicopters so the crew pushed each one overboard into the China Sea. The final refugees it received were literally tossed out of a hovering Boeing CH-47 Chinook that was too large to land on Kirk. Once the passengers were safely aboard, the pilot steered the craft a few hundred yards off Kirk's bow and landed in the water. He successfully emerged and joined his family on board the American frigate.
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Wikipedia