Truett (FF 1095) - Naval Cruise Book

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- X- ss , f . A -.. f, ,is...N. A X,... .........- ..,,., ' COMMANDER JOHN O'NEILL JR. UNITED STATES NAVY Commander John O,Neill, Jr. Was born in Wilson, North Carolina on 24 October 1945. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1968 and received his commis- sion from the Naval Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I. in July 1969. Since commissioning, CDR O'Neill has served in USS NANTAHALA QAO-605, USS GARCIA QFF-10403, USS MARVIN SHIELDS QFF-10605, Commanding Officer of USS CHEHALIS QPG-945 and USS WELCH 4 QPG-935, Executive Officer of USS MERRI- MACK QAO-1795 and on the staff of Staff Com- mander Second Fleet. Tours ashore have includ- ed U.S. Naval Destroyer School, Surface Warfare Officer's School Command, and Naval War Col- lege. CDR O'Neill assumed command of USS TRUETT QFF-10955 on 01 October 1986. CDR O'Neill is married to the former Betsy F. Kite of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina and they reside in Virginia Beach with their two chil- dren, John and Kelly.

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COMM D HI TCRY USS TRUETT QFF-10955 is named in honor of BMC Quincy H. Truett, USN, who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism while serving as a member of the River Patrol Flotilla FIVE in the Republic of Vietnam. TRUETT was the first Knox Class Frigate named after a Chief Petty Officer. The ship is one of 46 Knox Class Frigates originally designated ocean or destroyer escorts CDEJ, which later changed to the designator, frigate QFFJ. Her keel was laid at Avon- dale Shipyard INC, Westwago, LA on 27 April 1972 and she was launched on 17 February 1974. TRUETT was commissioned DE-1096 on 1 June 1974. The ship is designed for optimum performance in lo- cating and destroying submarines while screening sup- port forces and convoys at long ranges from their home bases. In addition to her primary mission in anti-subma- rine warfare QASWJ, TRUETT is fully equipped to per- form effectively in several additional missions, including destruction of enemy shipping, reconnaissance, and fully integrated Battle Group operations. TRUETT'S principal armament centers around the high speed homing torpedo. Placed in the general area of an enemy submarine, the torpedo will seek out and de- stroy its prey. The ship has a formidable offensive capa- bility because of her triple threat torpedo launching sys- tem, which consists of two twin torpedo tubes mounted amidships, the anti-submarine rocket QASROCJ launcher mounted forward, and the light airborne multi-purpose system helicopter, considered the primary weapons sys- tem. In addition, TRUETT is armed with a 5 !54 rapid fire gun, which provides anti-air and anti-surface defense as well as shore bombardment capability, and with the Harpoon missile system which provides long range attack capability. For self-defense TRUETT is equipped with the MK-15 close-in weapons system CCIWSJ which is de- signed to meet the threat of an anti-ship cruise missile. TRUETT'S complex electronic suite and integrated bow-mounted variable depth sonar and tactical towed ar- ray sonar QTACTASD, permit detection and classification of a wide spectrum of submarine emissions. The ship is 438 feet long with a beam of 47 feet, maxi- mum draft of 27 feet, and has full load displacement of 4,200 tons. A highly reliable engineering plant powers a steam turbine producing 35,000 shaft horsepower to drive a single five bladed, twelve ton propeller. Featuring automatic combustion control of her two boilers, which operate at steam pressures of approximately 1200 pounds per square inch, she is capable of speeds in excess of 27 knots. TRUETT'S complement consists of 20 officers and 265 enlisted men.

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COMMANDER ANDREW J. ALLEN UNITED STATES NAVY Commander Andrew J. Allen, son of Mr. and Mrs. Raymond E. Allen, was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1947. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1969. Upon graduation, Commander Allen began his career in the enlisted ranks as a SINS elec- tronics technician and was advanced to ETN3 prior to his commissioning in 1971. During his first tour, he served as CIC Officer and later as Operations Officer on USS HARLAN COUN- TY QLST-11965. Following completion of De- stroyer Department Head School, He was first as- signed as Engineer Officer on USS MCCAN D- LESS QFF-10810 and then as Operations Officer on USS PORTLAND QLSD-375. He was award- ed a Master of Science in Systems Technology CAntisubmarine Warfarel degree by the Naval Postgraduate School in 1982. Commander Allen then served as Executive Officer on USS DON- ALD B. BEARY QFF-10855. His last sea tour was as Chief Staff Officer of Destroyer Squadron FOURTEEN. Prior to assuming command of USS TRUETT QFF-10955, Commander Allen was as- signed to the staff of the Chief of Naval Opera- tions as a member of the Surface Warfare Divi- sion QOP-327. During his first year on the Staff, he was the Budget and Programming Officer for Navy Ship Maintenance. He completed his tour as the Fleet Modernization Program Coordina- tor. Commander Allen wears the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Navy Achievement Medal with gold star. He resides in Virginia Beach, Virginia. 5