USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073)

USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073)
History
United States
Name	Robert E. Peary
Namesake	Robert Peary
Ordered	July 22, 1964
Builder	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington
Laid down	December 20, 1970
Launched	June 23, 1971
Acquired	August 11, 1972
Commissioned	September 23, 1972
Decommissioned	August 7, 1992
Stricken	January 11, 1995
Identification	FF-1073
Fate	Transferred to Taiwan, August 7, 1992
Badge
Taiwan
Name	Chi Yang
Acquired	August 7, 1992
Commissioned	October 6, 1993
Decommissioned	May 1, 2015
Identification	FF-932
Fate	Sunk as target on July 15, 2020
General characteristics
Class and type	Knox-class frigate
Displacement	4,066 long tons (4,131 t) (full load)
Length	438 ft (134 m)
Beam	47 ft (14 m)
Draft	25 ft (7.6 m)
Propulsion	2 × Babcock & Wilcox Modified "D" Super-heated 1200psi boilers 1 Westinghouse geared turbine 1 shaft, 35,000 shp (26,000 kW)
Speed	over 27 knots (31 mph; 50 km/h)
Range	4,500 nautical miles (8,330 km) at 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement	18 officers, 267 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar AN/SQS-26 Sonar AN/SQR-18 Towed array sonar system AN/SQS-35 Towed Body Sonar Mk68 Gun Fire Control System
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System
Armament	one Mk-16 8 cell missile launcher for RUR-5 ASROC and Harpoon missiles one Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber gun Mark 46 torpedoes from four single tube launchers) one Mk-25 BPDMS launcher for Sea Sparrow missiles, replaced by Phalanx CIWS
Aircraft carried	one SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter

USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073) was a Knox-class frigate with the United States Navy from 1972 until 1992. In 1992, the ship was decommissioned and loaned to the Republic of China. The ship was renamed Chi Yang (Chinese: 濟陽) and was part of the Taiwanese navy until 2015.

The third US Navy warship named for Robert E. Peary was laid down on December 20, 1970, by the Lockheed Ship Building and Drydock Company in Seattle, Washington; launched June 26, 1971; sponsored by Miss Josephine Peary; and commissioned September 23, 1972.

The Knox-class design was derived from the Brooke class modified to extend range and without a long-range missile system. The ships had an overall length of 438 feet (133.5 m), a beam of 47 feet (14.3 m) and a draft of 25 feet (7.6 m). They displaced 4,066 long tons (4,131 t) at full load. Their crew consisted of 13 officers and 211 enlisted men.^[1]

The ships were equipped with one Westinghouse geared steam turbine that drove the single propeller shaft. The turbine was designed to produce 35,000 shaft horsepower (26,000 kW), using steam provided by 2 Babcock & Wilcox Modified "D" Super-heated boilers, to reach the designed speed of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph). The Knox class had a range of 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at a speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).^[2]

The Knox-class ships were armed with a 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun forward and a single 3-inch/50-caliber gun aft. They mounted an eight-round RUR-5 ASROC launcher between the 5-inch (127 mm) gun and the bridge. Close-range anti-submarine defense was provided by two twin 12.75-inch (324 mm) Mk 32 torpedo tubes. The ships were equipped with a torpedo-carrying DASH drone helicopter; its telescoping hangar and landing pad were positioned amidships aft of the mack. Beginning in the 1970s, the DASH was replaced by a SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I helicopter and the hangar and landing deck were accordingly enlarged. Most ships also had the 3-inch (76 mm) gun replaced by an eight-cell BPDMS missile launcher in the early 1970s.^[3]

Following two months of miscellaneous tests and trials along the northern Pacific coast of the United States, she steamed into her home port at Long Beach, California, November 8. Robert E. Peary remained in the Long Beach area for one year exactly, departing for WestPac November 9, 1973, and arriving in Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, ten days later.

Robert E. Peary was decommissioned on August 7, 1992, and loaned to the Republic of China.^[4] The destroyer escort was renamed Chi Yang by the Taiwanese Navy and served with the identification number FF-932. The vessel was commissioned into the Taiwanese Navy on October 6, 1993.^[4] On November 11, 1995, the ship was officially struck from the United States navy list. The frigate continued service until 2015, when on May 1, Chi Yang and her sister, Hai Ying, were decommissioned at Kaohsiung. The two ships will be cannibalized for parts to keep the remaining six Knox-class vessels of the Taiwanese Navy in service.^[5]

• 
  USS Robert E. Peary as seen from the starboard side of USS Truxtun circa 1991 in the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm
• 
  USS Robert E. Peary as ROCS Chi Yang (FF-932) in Keelung, Taiwan, 2012

• Friedman, Norman (1982). U.S. Destroyers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-733-X.
• Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen & Budzbon, Przemysław (1995). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1995. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.
• Saunders, Stephen, ed. (2004). Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004-05. Alexandria, Virginia: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.
•  This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

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