USS Miller (FF-1091)

Summary

USS Miller (FF-1091), originally (DE-1091) was a Knox-class destroyer escort in the United States Navy. She was named for Cook Third Class Doris "Dorie" Miller, who was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions at the attack on Pearl Harbor.[1]

USS Miller (FF-1091)
History
United States
NameMiller
NamesakeDoris "Dorie" Miller
Ordered25 August 1966
BuilderAvondale Shipyard, Avondale, Louisiana
Laid down6 August 1971
Launched3 June 1972
Acquired13 April 1973
Commissioned30 June 1973
Decommissioned15 October 1991
Stricken11 January 1995
MottoCourage-Devotion
FateSold to Turkey as a hulk (19 July 1999); subsequently sunk as a target in the Turkish Seawolf 2001 naval exercise June 2001
General characteristics
Class and typeKnox-class frigate
Displacement
  • 3,201 long tons (3,252 t) light
  • 4,182 long tons (4,249 t) full load
Length438 ft (134 m)
Beam46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Draft24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × CE 1,200 psi (8.3 MPa) boilers
  • 1 Westinghouse geared turbine
  • 1 shaft, 35,000 shp (26 MW)
Speedover 27 knots
Complement18 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
  • Mk68 Gun Fire Control System
Electronic warfare
& decoys
AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System
Armament
Aircraft carriedone SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter

Design and description edit

The Knox-class design was derived from the Brooke-class frigate 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 displacement 4,066 long tons (4,131 t) at full load. Their crew consisted of 13 officers and 211 enlisted men.[2]

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 C-E 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).[3]

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.[4]

Construction and career edit

 
Mrs. Henrietta Miller (mother of Doris Miller), sponsor for USS Miller attending 1973 commissioning ceremony at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Miller was built at Avondale, Louisiana. Commissioned in June 1973, her active service was performed with the Atlantic Fleet, including deployments to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea. In July 1975, she was reclassified as a frigate and redesignated FF-1091. Miller transferred to the Naval Reserve Force in January 1982, based in Newport, Rhode Island, and thereafter was employed in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas. She was decommissioned on October 1991 and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1995.[1] In 1999 she was transferred to Turkey as a hulk and in 2001 was sunk as a target in a Turkish naval exercise.[5]

 
USS Miller (FF-1091)

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b "USS Miller (DE/FF-1091)". Naval History & Heritage Command. 2010. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  2. ^ Friedman, pp. 357–60, 425
  3. ^ Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
  4. ^ Friedman, pp. 360–61; Gardiner, Chumley & Budzbon, p. 598
  5. ^ "Navy Ship Names: Background for Congress" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.

References edit

  • 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.
  • This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
  • 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.

External links edit

  Media related to USS Miller (FF-1091) at Wikimedia Commons

  • Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive : USS Miller (DE 1091)
  • USS Miller (DE 1091) website