Gary (FFG 51) - Naval Cruise Book

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Table of Contents Personnel Pictures 6 Pie-Deployment 20 Operation Fiery Vigil 25 Events 37 People 53 Plaees 71

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DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF PCSN TODD ANDERSON COI ' YKKiHT IW2

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What is a Frigate? In the late 1600 ' s in the British fleet there appeared a three masted light, nimble ship built with the purpose of sailing swiftly. Fast and powerful enough to capture merchant- men and elude heavier warships, she was called a frigate, a term derived from the earlier Italian fregata. The fregata had been a long, narrow merchant ship propelled by sails or oars and was common in the Mediterranean during the 16the and 17the centuries. Toward the end of the 18the century, the term frigate had crystallized. It identified a two deck ship with the main, or gundeck. and the upper deck, which had no name until U.S. Navy sailors christened it spar deck. In earlier times, British frigates were used to forwarn homeward bound merchantmen and to escort convoys across the Atlantic and North Sea. Steam frigates began to displace sailing frigates in the 1850 ' s and were in turn dis- placed by iron-clad ships during the Civil War. During WWII, the British revived the term frigate for escort vessels which were somewhat smaller than destroyers. Post war frigates of the U.S. Navy were developed to operate in severe weather conditions while coordinat- ing the movements of other ships and aircraft in anti-submarine operations. Gary is the forty-fifth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided missile frigates. Currently there are over fifty ships in the class, the Navy ' s newest as well as largest de- stroyer class since World War II. Her mission is to provide anti-air. anti-submarine, and anti-surface protection for military and merchant shipping, amphibious task forces, under- way logistics groups and carrier battle groups. The Combat System utilizes a computerized command and control system to integrate the ships sensors and weapons. Her weapons include surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, a rapid fire gun. a close-in weapons system, anti-submarine torpedoes, and the LAMPS MKIII helicopter. The propulsion system is a computer controlled gas turbine power plant with engines similar to those found on the civilian DC- 10. GARY propulsion system can be brought on-line in less than ten minutes compared to more than four hours for conventional steam powered ships. These systems, combined with a professional crew, make GARY a valuable asset in today ' s multi-threat environment.