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_off_Maine.jpg) USS Jesse L. Brown (FF-1089) |
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| Career (US) |   |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 25 August 1966 |
| Builder: | Avondale Shipyard, Westwego, Louisiana |
| Laid down: | 8 April 1971 |
| Launched: | 18 March 1972 |
| Acquired: | 8 December 1972 |
| Commissioned: | 17 February 1973 |
| Decommissioned: | 27 July 1994 |
| Struck: | 11 January 1995 |
| Motto: | Versatility Victory Valor |
| Fate: | Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, to Egypt as Domyat (Damietta) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Knox-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 3,201 tons (4,182 tons full load) |
| Length: | 438 ft (134 m) |
| Beam: | 46 ft 9 in (14.2 m) |
| Draught: | 24 ft 9 in (7.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × CE 1200psi boilers 1 Westinghouse geared turbine 1 shaft, 35,000 SHP (26 MW) |
| Speed: | 28 1/2knots in service |
| Boats and landing craft carried: |
26' Motor Whale Boat and Captain's Gig in port and starboard powered davits mounted amidships |
| Complement: | 18 officers, 267 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
AN/SPS-40C Air Search Radar Originally AN/SPS-10F Surface Search Radar, later AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar AN/SQS-26 Sonar AN/SQR-18 Towed array sonar system Mk68 Gun Fire Control System |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
Originally equipped with AN/SLQ-26 Electronic Warfare System consisting of AN/WLR-1C (Mod) with AN/ULQ-6C. Later removed and replaced by AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite |
| Armament: | one Mk-16 8 cell missile launcher for ASROC and Harpoon missiles one Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber gun Mark 46 torpedoes from four single tube launchers) one Phalanx CIWS |
| Aircraft carried: | one SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter |
| Aviation facilities: | Retracting Hanger forward of flight deck. Flight deck originally designed for the canceled "DASH" robotic ASW helicopter. Expanded and modified to support LAMPS program |
USS Jesse L. Brown (DE/FF/FFT-1089) was a Knox-class frigate of the US Navy. She was named for Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American naval aviator in the US Navy. Mrs. Gilbert W. Thorne, Ship's Sponsor. This ship was eventually decommissioned and sold to the Egyptian Navy and was renamed the Damyat.
Jesse L. Brown, a 3963-ton Knox-class escort ship built at Westwego, Louisiana, was commissioned in February 1973. In July 1975, she was reclassified as a frigate and designated FF-1089. Her career was spent with the Atlantic Fleet, and included several deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf and northern European waters. Jesse L. Brown also participated in two joint operations with Latin American Navies, UNITAS XX in 1979 and UNITAS XXX a decade later.
Jesse L. Brown was operating off the Guantanamo Bay are during January 1979 when the DDG USS Farraguat mistakenly fired upon a Soviet Oceangoing tug and Foxtrot Class submarine being given to the Cuban Navy. The Farraguat mistook the radar return for the US Navy fleet tug and towed target. During the next approximate 48 hours, Jesse L. Brown and the other ships maintained General Quarters while a state of near war existed which included constant threat of attack by Cuban missile patrol boats and medium bombers.
Jesse L. Brown (in an episode foreshadowing her later service) was credited with a drug bust as a result of the rescue of an approximate 40' sailboat in Casco Bay, Maine while undergoing post yard refit sea trials from Bath Iron Works. The ship bears the marks of this operation to this day with visible dents in hull from the strikes from the large sailboat while transferring the seasick crew in heavy sea conditions. The sailboat crew was later transferred to a former Navy ATF Coast Guard Cutter out of Portland, Maine after a failed towing attempt of the sailboat where the sailboat towing chock tore free.
Jesse L. Brown frequently lived up to Her motto of "Versatility, Victory, Valor." In one episode during the Iranian Hostage Crisis, the JLB recovered an SH-3 Sea King that was unable to HIFR (Hot In-Flight Refueling) and was beyond Bingo fuel to her carrier. The CO, Commander Hank "Happy Hank" Walker ordered ship into the wind and recovered the Sea King onto the limited space flight deck. The flight deck on Knox Frigates was rated by weight and size to UH-1 helicopters. The Sea King landed with her tail wheel in the safety nets with less then 18"of clearance between her rotors and the collapsed helicopter hanger. Quick repairs by the helo crew and ship crew allowed the hose to connect and she was able to lift off and properly refuel airborne.
Jesse L. Brown and her crew were the original ship who was to have escorted three Pegasus class Patrol Hydrofoils from Roosevelt Roads PR to Key West, FL. By using the frigates HIFR system as an underway replenishment refueling rig to refuel three hydrofoils underway instead of mooring alongside.
Jesse L. Brown' ' served as the US Liaison and on scene commander for rescue attempts and subsequent body recovery for a diving bell from the oil exploration ship "MV Woodeco 5" from Phillips Petroleum of the coast of the Ivory Coast during October 1979 after concluding Unitas XX and while opertaing as part of the West Africa Training Cruise 1979.
During the later 1980s and early 1990s, she engaged in counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean area.
Jesse L. Brown was transferred to the Naval Reserve in January 1992, and was redesignated FFT-1089. Based in Mobile, Alabama, after October 1992, she was actively involved in training reservists while participating in operations in the western Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico area. In 1993, she transited the Panama Canal and paid a visit to Ecuador. Jesse L. Brown was decommissioned in July 1994 and transferred to the Egyptian Navy, in which she serves as Damietta (F-961).
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons
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Joint Meritorious Unit Award (with two bronze oak leaf clusters) |
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Navy Unit Commendation (with one bronze service star) |
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Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation |
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Navy "E" Ribbon (3) |
 |
Navy Expeditionary Medal (with one bronze service star) |
 |
National Defense Service Medal (with one bronze service star) |
 |
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon |
 |
Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon |
References : USS Jesse L. Brown on NavSource.org
External links
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