The Oliver Hazard Perry-class, shortly the Perry-class, frigates have served since 1977.
And they are still taking on crucial missions.
The frigate, which has proved its worth in real combat, became a true legend by performing
many firsts for 45 years of duty.
Now we are investigating the Perry-class, an excellent warrior and peace envoy.
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The Perry-class is undoubtedly the most successful frigate in U.S. naval history.
Although it was designed for secondary missions, this surface combatant repeatedly proved itself
in front-line service.
The frigate is not just a gallant warrior but also a symbol of diplomacy.
Perhaps the most fitting word for the Perry-class is "first".
To better understand why the word "first" suits the ship, let's look at the history.
Before 1975, the U.S. Navy had defined the Brooke, Garcia, and Knox classes as escort
destroyers.
The term "frigate" had referred to destroyer leaders.
But after this year, the U.S. Navy changed the classification of surface combatants.
The escort destroyers have turned into frigates and the destroyer leaders into cruisers.
The Perry-class was the first surface combatant in the U.S. Navy designed and built as a frigate
according to this new classification.
This class of vessel, defined as patrol frigates during the study phase, was reclassified as
a guided missile frigate before it became operational.
The initial mission definition of the Perry-class was to protect the amphibious landing forces,
supply and replenishment groups, and merchant convoys from aircraft and submarines.
But, the U.S. Navy also used these frigates as the element of battleship-centred surface
action groups and aircraft carrier strike groups.
The Perry-class was the first ship designed by computers.
The first ship of the class, USS Oliver Hazard Perry, was laid down on June 12, 1975, launched
on September 25, 1976, and commissioned on December 17, 1977.
Washington, which had initially planned to build 75 of these frigates, lowered the number
to 50 due to budget cuts.
However, later, it approved the building of the 51st ship, USS Ingraham.
There are two versions of the frigate, a short hull with a 136-metre length and a long hull
with a-138 metre length.
Australia, Spain and Taiwan also built the frigate in their local shipyards.
Unlike U.S. versions, the ships built in Australia have a sloping helipad and 2.4 meters longer
hull.
The Spanish models, defined as the Santa María-class, are 138.8 meters long.
The beam of these ships is 14.3 meters.
The frigates built in Taiwan are defined as the Cheng Kung-class and have a length of
138 meters and a beam of 14.3 meters.
The superstructure of the frigate was made of relatively less durable aluminium, which
has caused some complaints.
In December 1982, USS Duncan of this class developed a 12-metre fissure in her superstructure
during a storm.
Also, it is reported that some other frigates have experienced the same problem.
The ship has a 19-millimetre thick Kevlar armour on vital spaces.
Besides, the engine room is reinforced with 16 millimetres thick steel, while the magazine
with 19 millimetres thick aluminium plates.
The frigate has exceptional survivability.
On July 14, 2016, a decommissioned Perry-class ship, USS Thach, was used as a target ship.
During the live-fire exercise, she was hit by four Harpoons, two Hellfires and one Maverick
missiles, two bombs and one Mark 48 torpedo.
Still, it took 12 hours for the frigate to sink.
Similarly, another decommissioned Perry-class ship, USS Rentz, was used as a target ship
at the same exercise and sank in 5 hours after sustaining 22 missile hits.
The Perry-class is the first U.S. Navy surface combatant whose gas turbine propulsion system
also allows the ship's speed to be controlled directly from the bridge via a throttle.
The propeller of the single-shaft frigate has a lower impact on the bottom while a higher
one is on the top.
Therefore, at speeds above 12 knots, the frigate's stern slides in the direction of the starboard.
However, thanks to its auxiliary engines and advanced steering system, the ship can be
easily controlled and has high manoeuvrability.
The Perry-class can travel at 6 knots speed using its two auxiliary engines.
The ship creates air bubbles around the engine and hull to reduce the acoustic signature.
The position of the 76mm gun causes large blind spots.
It can be fired only from the sides.
Therefore, while the ship is heading toward a target, it cannot open a suppressing fire.
The location of the close-in weapon system above the hangar also creates large blind
spots, and it can only shoot at the targets that are approaching from the aft area.
The U.S.A and Australia decommissioned these ships in 2015 and 2019, respectively.
On June 13, 2017, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John M. Richardson, announced that
U.S. Navy officials were currently looking into the possibility of recommissioning several
Perry-class frigates from its inactive fleet.
But, on December 11, 2017, the plan was abandoned due to cost problems.
Bahrain, Chile, Egypt, Pakistan, Poland, Spain, Taiwan, and Turkey are the current users of
the Perry-class.
The complement of the Perry-class is 176-person.
The short-hull variant has a length of 136 metres, a beam of 14 metres, and a draught
of 7.5 metres.
The long-hull version is 138 metres long.
Its fully-loaded displacement is 4,200 tons.
Two 20,500-horsepower GE LM 2500 gas turbine engines provide 29 knots top speed.
The frigate can sail 8,330 kilometres, in other words, 4,500 nautical miles, at an economical
speed of 20 knots.
The RIM-66 Standard SM-1 air defence and RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles can be launched
from the single-arm Mk 13 Mod4 launcher.
The frigate also has one 76mm single barrel Mk 75 gun, one 20mm six-barrel Mk 15 Phalanx
close-in weapon system and two 324mm Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes.
The RGM-84 Harpoon missile with a 222-kilogram semi-armour-piercing warhead has 124 kilometres
range.
Its maximum speed is Mach 0.86.
The semi-active radar-guided RIM-66 Standard SM-1 has an effective range of 38,000 metres
and an effective altitude of 19,800 metres, in other words, 65,000 feet.
The speed of this air defence missile with a 62-kilogram high-explosive blast fragmentation
warhead is Mach 2.
The 76mm Mk 75 gun, the U.S. licence-built variant of OTO Melara 76m Compatto, has a
rate of fire of 85 rounds per minute.
It is effective against a surface target at 16 kilometres and an air target at 8 kilometres.
The rate of fire for the Mk 15 Phalanx close-in weapon system is 4,500 rounds per minute.
Its effective range is only about 1,500 metres.
Many users have equipped their ships with machine guns of various calibres.
Australia had even integrated the Mini Typhoon remote-controlled weapon stations with 12.7mm
machine guns to its frigates, defined as the Adelaide-class in this country.
The Santa María-class ships have the Meroka close-in weapon systems instead of the Phalanxes.
The Taiwanese frigates have additional two 40mm and two 20mm guns.
The decks of these ships have been modified to integrate the Hsiung Feng II and Hsiung
Feng III anti-ship missiles.
Two Adelaide-class frigates acquired by Chile in 2020 have an eight-cell vertical launching
system.
Generally, each of these cells houses four RIM-162 ESSM air defence missiles with 50
kilometres range and Mach 4 speed.
Similarly, the Turkish Navy has equipped four Perry-class ships, defined as Gabya-class
in this country, with an eight-cell vertical launching system for the RIM-162s.
Also, the Chilean frigates can fire the RIM-67 Standard SM-2 with 170 kilometres range and
Mach 2.5 speed instead of the RIM-66 Standard SM-1.
The combat career of the Perry-class frigates began quickly.
USS Clifton Sprague participated in Operation Urgent Fury, the U.S.-led 1983 Invasion of
Grenada.
But these ships got their true reputation in the Persian Gulf.
In 1984, there was a balance on the ground front of the Iran-Iraq War.
So, Iraq began to attack its enemy's oil tankers to wear out Iran's economy and will to fight.
When Tehran responded to these attacks, oil shipments to the world from the region started
to interrupt.
Thus, the U.S. Navy deployed a fleet into the Gulf to escort tankers against the Iranian
attacks.
But, the first major attack on U.S. surface combat ships came from Iraq.
On May 17, 1987, two Exocet AM39s hit the Perry-class frigate USS Stark patrolled in
the Persian Gulf.
These missiles had not been fired from a combat aircraft, like Mirage F1, but a modified Falcon
50 business jet of the Iraqi Air Force.
So, the crew in the CIC of USS Stark could not evaluate the tactical situation correctly.
They had assessed that the speed of the threat directed to the ship was low compared to a
jet fighter and high compared to a helicopter.
Therefore, the captain had not given the order to activate the countermeasure systems.
When the Exocet's ADAC radar became active within 10 kilometres, the crew of USS Stark
realized that the frigate was under attack.
It was now too late to activate the decoys and the Mk 15 Phalanx close-in weapon system.
Although only one missile detonated, the fuel of the undetonated Exocet also caused a fire.
Despite the heavy damage, USS Stark survived the attack without sinking.
In July of the same year, another Perry-class frigate, USS Rentz, bombarded an abandoned
oil rig used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to stage attacks on the Persian Gulf
shipments.
Later, a helicopter from the ship landed a SEAL team at the oil ring to take it over.
On April 14, 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts hit a mine in the same area.
Still, she managed to reach Bahrain by her auxiliary engines.
On September 21, 1987, three U.S. Army helicopters attacked an Iranian ship Iran Ajr, which conducted
a minelaying operation.
At least one of them took off from USS Jarret.
On April 18, 1988, the Perry-class frigate USS Simpson, the USS Wainwright cruiser and
the Knox-class frigate USS Bagley destroyed an Iranian naval and intelligence facility
on an oil platform.
After a day, the Iranian Kaman-class missile boat Joshan launched a Harpoon missile at
the U.S. surface combatants.
The USS Simpson returned missile fire and hit Joshan.
Later, the boat was sunk by combined gunfire.
After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the U.S.A. sent the Perry-class frigates to
the Persian Gulf to fight once again.
On August 18, 1990, USS Reid fired the first shots of Operation Desert Shield.
During the 1991 Gulf War, USS Nicholas sunk or damaged seven Iraqi patrol boats and destroyed
eight drifting mines.
On January 24, 1991, the helicopters, which took off from USS Curts, landed the soldiers
on Qaruh Island to capture the Iraqi garrison.
Also, during the Battle of Bubiyan Island, the frigate destroyed two mines, sank an Iraqi
minelayer, and supported combat helicopter operations.
The Perry-class has also been a good envoy, which achieved many firsts.
The USS Rentz was part of the U.S. Navy's first historic visit to China in 37 years
in 1986.
In 1992, USS McClusky visited Vladivostok in the Russian Federation.
She was the first U.S. naval ship to do so after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In 1997, USS Estocin became the first U.S. surface combatant to visit two Russian ports,
Baltiysk and Severomorsk, in the same deployment.
In 2003, USS Nicholas entered Neum in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It was important because no other warship had visited this city since 1917.
In the same year, USS Vandegrift became the first U.S. surface combatant to enter Vietnamese
waters since 1975.
Another Perry-class frigate, USS Gary, was the first U.S. warship to visit Cambodia after
the Vietnam War.
The Australian frigates participated in many military missions, including the 1987 Fijian
coups d'état, 1999 INTERFET peacekeeping mission, 2000 Solomon Islands Civil War, War
in Afghanistan, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Besides, in 1995, the Adelaide-class HMAS Sydney became the first Royal Australian Navy
warship to visit the Russian port of Vladivostok.
In 2014, the naval ships of the Turkish Navy passed through the Cape of Good Hope for the
first time after 1866.
The Perry-class TCG Gediz was part of the Barbaros Task Group assembled for this mission.
Many users have tried to keep their Perry-class frigates up-to-date with various modernization.
But, they are now outdated surface combatants and close to the end of their service life.
Although its glory days are now over, the Perry-class repeatedly proved itself a successful
frigate in war and peace and became a legend.
Thanks for watching our video.
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