Taylor (FFG 50) - Naval Cruise Book

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Specification S gl rf lss szss a aail egi igsvss-555552: 'Q5E,,5:EQ'g X aw ii B Xxx cf' i-- ---f-F E T M CD Length ........ .......... 4 53 feet Draft ....................... ................ 2 2 feet Beam .......... ......... 4 5 feet Displacement ........... ......... 4 ,100 tons Speed ............. ....... 3 0+ knots Accommodations ............... 13 Officers 287 Enlisted Propulsion 2 LM2500 Gas Turbine Engines, 41,000 Shaft Horsepower l Controllable Reversible Pitch Propeller l Rudder 2 Auxiliary Propulsion Units Sensors l ANfSPS-49 Air Search Radar l ANXSPS-55 Surface Search Radar l Mk 92 Fire Control System l ANfSLO-32fVl5 Electronic Countermeasures System l ANfSOS-56 Sonar System l ANfSOS-19 Towed Array System l Mk 134 Decoy Launching System Weapons 1 76mm Mk 75 Rapid Fire Gun 2 Mk 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes 5 50 Caliber Machine Guns 2 25mm Machine Cannons 3

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History Behind USS TAYLOR USS TAYLOR lFFG 501 is named for the late Commander Jesse Junior Taylor, USN. Commander Taylor was born In Wichita, Kansas, on 16 January 1925. He enlisted in the Navy ln October 1942 and served as an Aviation Radioman until the end of World War Il with Bombing Squadron VB-1 1 aboard the carrier USS HORNET lCVA 121 in the South Pacific. During the Korean conflict, he returned to the Navy as a Na-val Aviator and in May 1952 received his commission as an Ensign. After a tour with Composite Squadron Four, he served as an NROTC instructor at the University of California at Los Angeles. Further flight training and a tour with the Chief of Staff, Naval 5 Air Training followed at NAS Pensacola, Florida. He was promoted to Lieutenant Commander while serv- ing with VF-174. Later he attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and directed the Flight Test division of the Bureau of Naval Weapons at St. Louis, Missouri for two years. In July 1965, LCDR Taylor was assigned to Air Wing 16 aboard the attack carrier USS ORISKANY lCVA 341, and sailed to the Western Pacific. He flew 16 missions between September and November, earning an Air Medal with gold star lin lieu of second awardl. On 17 November 1965, Taylor was flying his Skyraider during attacks on a key bridge near the North Vietnamese port of Haiphong. Ground fire had downed one of the other U.S. Navy aircraft and its pilot had ejected in a heavily defended area. Com- mander Taylor heard the radio transmission describ- ing the pilot's plight. Realizing that time was of the essence in any attempt to rescue the downed pilot, Taylor made a courageous decision. Although it was not his assigned mis- sion, and having discovered that other rescue aircraft were occupied elsewhere, he took command of the rescue effort. Taylor proceeded to the scene and found the pilot still in his parachute harness in shallow water. To cover the approach of the rescue helicopter, Commander Taylor attacked the anti-aircraft gun sites despite intense and accurate anti- aircraft fire and the fact that his own plane had sustained damage. The storm of enemy fire made It Impossible for the helicopter to rescue the man on the ground. Meanwh'l I e, because of flre In his own aircraft, Commander Taylor was forced to break off his own ,persistent attacks. Rather than abandon his plane in enemy territory, he elected to tr to . Y dltCh.Il'1 the Gulf of Tonkln. However, fire burned through the wing of his plane and it crashed before he had time to leave it. 2

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CDR Keith A. Knutsen Command'ng Dfficer Commander Keith Knutsen grew up in Clinton, Iowa. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engl- neering from the United States Naval Academy In May 1990. Commander Knutsen is a 2002 graduate of the United States Naval War College, where he ob- tained a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies. His first sea duty tour was as Auxiliaries Officer, Main Propulsion Assistant, Navigator and Chief Engineer in USS FLETCHER 1DD 9921 from March 1991 to Au- gust 1994. During Commander Knutsen's first shore duty assign- ment from September 1994 to September 1996, he served as Chief Engineer of the GL-47 Gas Turbine Propulsion Plant Trainer and later as Director, United States Naval Gunnery Schools, Service Schools Command Great Lakes, IL. His first De- partment Head tour was in USS KINKAID 1DD 9651 as Chief Engineer from June 1997 until February 1999. His follow on Department Head tour was in USS PORT ROYAL ICG 731 as Chief Engineer from June 1999 until March 2001. Upon completion of his tour in PORT ROYAL, Commander Knutsen attended the United States Naval War College at Newport, Rhode Island. From March 2002 through June 2003 he served on the Staff of The Commander United States Naval Forces, Southern Command as Surface Operations Officer, Current Operations Officer, Scheduler and Pa- cific Region Officer. Following his tour at COMUSNAVSO, Commander Knutsen assumed Command of USS PELICAN 1MHC 531 in January 2004. In August 2004, he was designated Commanding Officer of MHC Rotational Crew Charlie and ordered to de-crew USS PELICAN. Two weeks after de-crewing PELICAN, Commander Knutsen assumed Command of USS CAR- DINAL 1MHC 601 forward deployed in the 5th Fleet Area of Responsibility. Later, after being redesignated MHC Crew AGGRESSIVE, he returned from the 5 ' Fleet AOR and assumed Command of USS OSPREY1MHC 511. In February 2006, following a reorgani- zation of the waterfront Command structure at NAVSTA Ingleside, Commander Knut- sen was ordered to assume Command of MHC Crew VALOR assigned to USS ROBIN 1MHC 541 in addition to maintaining Command of MHC Crew AGGRESSIVE embarked on USS OSPREY. Commander Knutsen remained in Command of both OSPREY and ROBIN until their decommissioning in June 2006. -Qs-