Fahrion (FFG 22) - Naval Cruise Book

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at USS Fahrion • ■« USS Fahrion (FFG 22), one of the Navy ' s newest Perry-class frigates, re- cently put to sea for its shakedown cruise. Fahrion ' s plank owner crew members, who had trained together as the pre-commissioning team, were on board to take the ship from Seattle, Wash., to its new home port in May- port, Fla. Also on board was Navy combat artist William E. Ryan, along with reserve Lieutenant Commander Thomas C. Pinard who interviewed some of the men Ryan used as subjects of his drawings. A noted marine artist who grew up around water and who has studied and lived on both coasts, Ryan saw the Fah- rion as a self-contained community where the men lived in a world of their own making. He was impressed with the caliber of these professionals. Daily they completed the ordinary tasks re- quired to keep their ship in good condi- tion, while keeping themselves physical- ly healthy and mentally alert. Ryan saw life on Fahrion as condensed, a study in human nature, with the inhabitants cre- ating their own pattern of responses and interaction. With his artist ' s eye and skillful hands, Ryan transferred his mental im- pressions of the Fahrion men into graphic form, infusing his own feelings into his drawings. They are a record of a life that only a sailor understands. — JED ■

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An Artist Looks H , i .V ' , ■ . -•. ' . » «• . i - f 4 J -- .V '

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An Artist Looks at USS Fahrion She ' s like a race horse, sensitive, highbred, delicate to the touch. William E. Ryan ' s comments during the shakedown cruise of USS Fahrion (FFG 22) reflect the manner of the frigate ' s bearing but, more importantly, the care taken by this thoroughbred ' s trainers and han- dlers — Fahrion ' s crew. Ryan was invited aboard by Commander Tom Daly, Fahrion ' s first commanding officer, who had been so impressed with Ryan ' s artwork that he wanted the artist to create a visual record of the frigate. The tour for the Navy combat artist aboard Fahrion was coordinated by the Office of the Chief of Information in Washington, D.C. Ryan ' s sketches, along with an oil painting of the ship (this month ' s cover), bring to life the members of the crew during the ship ' s transit from Seattle to Mayport, Fla. What I saw were highly professional people, working on sensitive computerized systems and also doing all the day-to-day things that are necessary to keep a ship like Fahrion under way, said Ryan. The officers and crew also shared the artist ' s feelings and— while under way to Mayport— some commented on Fahrion, the Navy and life at sea. For Ensign Robert Esker, Fahrion is a move into the highest state of the art. The gas turbine is outstanding, but it requires a lot more training. We ' re no longer dealing with hammer mechanics, and my men make up a top flight engineering crew— you can see it in their care. Esker, an LDO and the bull ensign on Fahrion , figures that a shakedown cruise of 6,500 miles is an excellent way for ship and crew to come together. Establishing an organization together has been one of the exciting highlights of serving on the pre-commissioning crew, said Chief f w v ' 1 i