USS Clark (FFG-11)
 A starboard bow view of the guided-missile frigate USS Clark underway, 1981. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
| |
| Name: | Clark |
| Namesake: | Admiral Joseph James "Jocko" Clark (1893–1971) |
| Ordered: | 27 February 1976 |
| Builder: | Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine |
| Laid down: | 17 July 1978 |
| Launched: | 24 March 1979 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Olga Clark, widow of Admiral Clark |
| Commissioned: | 9 May 1980 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 March 2000 |
| Struck: | 15 March 2000 |
| Homeport: | Norfolk, Virginia (former) |
| Identification: |
|
| Motto: | "Determined Warrior" |
| Fate: | Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP) |
 ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski moored in Gdynia | |
 Poland
| |
| Name: | Generał Kazimierz Pułaski |
| Namesake: | United States Brigadier General Kazimierz Pułaski |
| Acquired: | 15 March 2000 |
| Commissioned: | 25 June 2000 |
| Identification: | 272 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load |
| Length: | 445 feet (136 m), overall |
| Beam: | 45 feet (14 m) |
| Draft: | 22 feet (6.7 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | over 29 knots (54 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 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: |
|
| Electronic warfare & decoys: | AN/SLQ-32 |
| Armament: |
|
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × SH-60 LAMPS III helicopter[1] |
The second USS Clark (FFG-11), fifth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Admiral Joseph James "Jocko" Clark (1893–1971).
History
Ordered from Bath Iron Works on 27 February 1976 as part of the FY76 program, Clark was laid down on 17 July 1978, launched on 24 March 1979, and commissioned on 9 May 1980. The Ship sponsor was Mrs. Olga Clark, the widow of Admiral Clark.
In July 1982, Clark recovered three sailors that were washed overboard from the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Spain.[2] A fourth sailor was not recovered and was lost at sea.[3]
In December 1992, Clark was nearby when the crew of an F-14 was forced to eject during training operations off the coast of Virginia. Clark's helicopter rescued the radar intercept officer and a United States Coast Guard helicopter rescued the pilot.[4]
In April 1994, Clark changed homeports from Newport, Rhode Island, to Norfolk, Virginia.[5] The ship had previously been homeported in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from the mid-1980s to 1992 and Mayport, Florida before that.
Decommissioned and stricken on 15 March 2000, she was handed over to Poland that same day to become the Polish Navy's ORP Generał Kazimierz Pułaski, after Kazimierz Pułaski, a Pole who was appointed the rank of Brigadier General in the Continental Army cavalry and fought in the American Revolutionary War.
Awards
Clark and her crew received the following unit awards, according to the US Navy unit awards website:[6]
- Humanitarian Service Medal for the evacuation of Lebanon, 23 to 25 June 1982
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for Lebanon from 11 December 1983 to 21 January 1984
- US Coast Guard Unit Commendation, 31 October 1984 to 31 December 1984
- Meritorious Unit Commendation, 1 February 1984 to 21 April 1984
- US Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon, 3 awards, for April to June 1989, July to September 1989 and 19 January 1990 to 24 February 1990.
- Navy E Ribbon, 2 awards, for the years of 1992 and 1995
- Joint Meritorious Unit Award for the year of 1997.
Clark was also nominated for the United States Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation for operations from 24 June 1994 to 12 July 1994, but did not receive the award. The ship was reported near Haiti in mid July 1994[7] around the time many refugees were fleeing Haiti in small boats.[8]
References
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.
- ↑ Associated Press (1982-07-07). "Sailor Missing from Carrier". Daily News Record (Harrisonburg, Virginia).
- ↑ "Man Overboard: Sailor Recalls Ordeal". The Winchester Star (Winchester, Virginia). 1982-07-15.
- ↑ "Navy Jet Crashes Into Ocean". Daily Press (Hampton Roads, Virginia). 1992-12-16.
- ↑ Associated Press title= Underway for Good (1994-04-18). Pacific Stars And Stripes. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ↑ "Unit Awards". US Navy.
- ↑ Associated Press (1994-07-16). "Haitian Crisis Deepens". European Stars And Stripes.
- ↑ Associated Press (June 29, 1994). "Haitians to go to Guantanamo". Syracuse Herald-Journal (Syracuse, New York).
External links
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