Brooke-class frigate

The Brooke class was a United States Navy frigate class based on the design of the Garcia class, 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.

USS Brooke (FFG-1)
Class overview
Name	Brooke class
Builders	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington, U.S. Bath Iron Works
Operators	United States Navy  Pakistan Navy
Preceded by	Garcia class
Succeeded by	Knox class Oliver Hazard Perry class
Built	1962–1968
In commission	1966–1989
Planned	19
Completed	6
Retired	6
General characteristics
Type	Guided missile frigate
Displacement	2,640 tons std 3,426 tons full
Length	390 ft (118.87 m) (pp) 415 ft 1.5 in (126.53 m) (oa)
Beam	44 ft 2.875 in (13.48 m)
Draft	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) (keel, full load) 24 ft 5.75 in (7.46 m) (sonar, full load)
Propulsion	2 Foster Wheeler boilers, 1 GE (1-3) or Westinghouse (4-6) geared turbine, 35,000 shp (26 MW), 1 screw
Speed	27.2 knots (50.4 km/h; 31.3 mph)
Range	4,000 nautical miles (7,400 km; 4,600 mi)
Complement	14 officers, 214 crew
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-52 3D air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SPG-51 missile fire control radar AN/SQS-26 bow mounted sonar[1] Mk.56 fire-control system
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32
Armament	1 × 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber gun 1 × Mk 22 RIM-24 Tartar/RIM-66 Standard missile launcher (16 missiles) 1 × 8 cell ASROC launcher 2 × triple 12.75 in (324 mm) Mk 32 torpedo tubes, Mk 46 torpedoes (6 torpedoes) 1 × twin Mk 25 torpedo tubes for MK 37 torpedo (fixed, stern, removed later) (8 torpedoes)
Aircraft carried	1 SH-2 Seasprite

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 General Electric turbine. All ships had two Foster Wheeler boilers. FFG-4 through FFG-6 had an angled base of the bridge structure behind the ASROC 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 SH-2 Seasprite after the hangar was enlarged.^[2]

Oliver Hazard Perry class systems were evaluated on Talbot including the 76 mm Mk.75 gun, the AN/SQS-56 sonar and other systems.^[2][3]

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. 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

Ship name	Hull no.	Crest	Builder	Commission– decommission	Fate	Link
Brooke	FFG-1		Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle	1966–1988	Transferred to Pakistan in 1989; disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994
Ramsey	FFG-2			1967–1988	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, 15 June 2000
Schofield	FFG-3			1968–1988	Disposed of in support of Fleet training exercise, 11/02/1999
Talbot	FFG-4		Bath Iron Works	1967–1988	Transferred to Pakistan in 1989; disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994
Richard L. Page	FFG-5			1967–1988	Transferred to Pakistan in 1989; disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994
Julius A. Furer	FFG-6			1967–1989	Transferred to Pakistan in 1989; disposed of by Navy title transfer to the Maritime Administration, 28 March 1994

Gallery

• 
  Talbot with angled bridge structure for automated ASROC loading.
• 
  Ramsey's SPS-52, black panel at center and AN/SPG-51, dish at right.
• 
  Schofield underway near San Diego, CA