USS Sides (FFG-14)
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 USS Sides entering San Francisco harbor in 2002 |
|
| Career (US) |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | 27 February 1976 |
| Builder: | Todd Pacific Shipyards |
| Laid down: | 7 August 1978 |
| Launched: | 19 May 1979 |
| Commissioned: | 30 May 1981 |
| Decommissioned: | 28 February 2003 |
| Struck: | 24 May 2004 |
| Status: | Stricken, to be disposed of |
| Homeport: | NS San Diego, California (former) |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,100 tons (4,170 t) full load |
| Length: | 453 ft (138.1 m), overall |
| Beam: | 45 ft (13.7 m) |
| Draught: | 22 ft (6.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines generating 41,000 shp (31 MW) through a single shaft and variable pitch propeller |
| Speed: | 29+ knots (54+ km/h) |
| Range: | 5,000 nm (9,300 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 15 officers and 190 enlisted, plus SH-60 LAMPS detachment of roughly six officer pilots and 15 enlisted maintainers |
| Sensors and processing systems: | AN/SPS-49 air-search radar AN/SPS-55 surface-search radar CAS and STIR fire-control radar AN/SQS-56 sonar. |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: | AN/SLQ-32 |
| Armament: | One OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun one Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine) two Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes one Vulcan Phalanx CIWS; four .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 × SH-60 LAMPS III helicopters |
USS Sides (FFG-14), eighth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Admiral John H. Sides (died 1978). Ordered from Todd Shipyards, San Pedro, CA on 27 February 1976 as part of the FY76 program, Sides was laid down on 7 August 1978, launched on 19 May 1979, and commissioned on 30 May 1981. Sides escorted tankers through the Straits of Hormuz during the Tanker War and participated in Operation Praying Mantis, the retaliation for Iranian mining operations.[1] The Sides was also part of the Surface Action Group under USS Vincennes (CG-49) when Iran Air 655 was shot down. Decommissioned on 28 February 2003, Sides is currently laid up in reserve at Naval Inactive Ships Maintenance Facility Bremerton, WA.
Sides was expected to join the Portuguese Navy in 2006, together with her sister ship Ex-George Philip (FFG-12), but meanwhile the Portuguese Navy seems to be dropping the offer and will choose two Dutch Karel Doorman Frigates instead.
Sides (FFG-14) was the first ship of that name in the US Navy.
