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USS Stark (FFG-31)
History
US
Namesake	Harold Rainsford Stark
Builder	Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington
Laid down	24 August 1979
Launched	30 May 1980
Commissioned	23 October 1982
Decommissioned	7 May 1999
Stricken	7 May 1999
Homeport	Mayport, Florida (former)
Motto	Strength for Freedom
Fate	Disposed of by scrapping - dismantled June 21, 2006
General characteristics
Class and type	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
Displacement	4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load
Length	453 feet (138 m), overall
Beam	45 feet (14 m)
Draught	22 feet (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 2 × Auxiliary Propulsion Units, 350 hp (260 kW) retractable electric azimuth thrusters for maneuvering and docking.
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	AN/SPS-49 air-search radar AN/SPS-55 surface-search radar CAS and STIR fire-control radar AN/SQS-56 sonar.
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32
Armament	As built: 1 × OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun 2 × Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes 1 × Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 4 × .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. 1 × Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine) Note: As of 2004, Mk 13 systems removed from all active US vessels of this class.
Aircraft carried	2 × SH-60 LAMPS III helicopters

USS Stark (FFG-31), 23rd ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Admiral Harold Rainsford Stark (1880–1972).

Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyards, Seattle, Washington on 23 January 1978 as part of the FY78 program, Stark was laid down on 24 August 1979, launched on 30 May 1980, and commissioned on 23 October 1982, CDR Terence W. Costello commanding.

In 1987, an Iraqi jet fighter attacked the USS Stark under disputed circumstances. Thirty seven (37) U.S. sailors died as a result. It is the only successful anti-ship missile attack on a U.S. Navy warship.

Decommissioned on 7 May 1999, Stark was scrapped in 2006.

Missile attack

The USS Stark was deployed to the Middle East Force in 1984 and 1987. Captain Glenn R. Brindel was the commanding officer during the 1987 deployment. The ship was struck on May 17, 1987, by two Exocet antiship missiles fired from an Iraqi Mirage F1 aircraft during the Iran–Iraq War. The plane had taken off from Shaibah at 8 p.m. and had flown south into the Persian Gulf. The pilot fired the first Exocet missile from a range of 22.5 nautical miles (41.7 km), and the second from 15.5 nautical miles (28.7 km), just about the time Stark issued a standard warning by radio. The frigate did not detect the missiles with radar; warning was given by the lookout only moments before the missiles struck. The first penetrated the port-side hull and failed to detonate, but left flaming rocket fuel in its path. The second entered at almost the same point, and, leaving a 3-by-4-meter gash, exploded in crew quarters. 37 sailors were killed and 21 were injured.

No weapons were fired in defense of Stark. The Phalanx CIWS remained in standby mode, Mark 36 SRBOC countermeasures were not armed, and the attacking Exocet missiles and Mirage aircraft were in a blindspot of the defensive STIR (Separate Target Illumination Radar) fire control system, preventing use of the ship's Standard missiles. The ship failed to maneuver to bring its weapons batteries to bear before the first missile hit.

On fire and listing, the frigate was brought under control by its crew during the night. The ship made its way to Bahrain where, after temporary repairs by the tender USS Acadia (AD-42) to make her seaworthy, she returned to her home port of Mayport, Florida, under her own power. The ship was eventually repaired at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi for $142 million.

It is unknown whether Iraqi leaders authorized the attack. Initial claims by the Iraqi government (that Stark was inside the Iran–Iraq War zone) were shown to be false. The motives and orders of the pilot remain unanswered. American officials have claimed he was executed, but an ex-Iraqi Air Force commander later said that the pilot who attacked Stark was not punished, and remained alive.

Citing lapses in training requirements and lax procedures, the U.S. Navy's board of inquiry relieved Captain Brindel of command and recommended him for court-martial, along with Tactical Action Officer Lieutenant Basil E. Moncrief. Instead, Brindel and Mondrief received non-judicial punishment from Admiral Frank B. Kelso II and letters of reprimand. Both opted for early retirement, while Executive Officer Lieutenant Commander Raymond Gajan Jr. was detached for cause and received a letter of admonition.

1990s

Stark was part of the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic Fleet in 1990 before returning to the Middle East Force in 1991. She was attached to UNITAS in 1993 and took part in Operation Support Democracy and Operation Able Vigil in 1994. In 1995, she returned to the Middle East Force before serving in the Atlantic in 1997 and in 1998.

Stark was decommissioned on May 7, 1999. A scrapping contract was awarded to Metro Machine Corp. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 7 October 2005. The ship was reported scrapped on June 21, 2006.

Deaths

On May 22, 1987, a eulogy was given by President Ronald Reagan at Mayport Naval Air Staion, Jacksonville, Florida.

See also

• Korean Air Lines Flight 007 for the role of the USS Stark

References

1. http://www.jag.navy.mil/library/investigations/USS%20STARK%20BASIC.pdf
2. Desert Storm at sea: what the Navy really did by Marvin Pokrant, P 43.
3. Stephen Andrew Kelley (June 2007). "Better Lucky Than Good: Operation Earnest Will as Gunboat Diplomacy" (Document). Naval Postgraduate School. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |format= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
4. ^ Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Attack of the USS Stark in 1987
5. http://headmuscle.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/a-stark-reminder-2/
6. Fisk, Robert (2005). The Great War For Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. Knopf Publishing.
7. Cushman Jr, John H. (1987-07-28). "Navy Forgoes Courts-Martial for Officers of Stark". The New York Times.
8. Naval Vessel Register. STARK (FFG 31). Accessed April 4, 2007.
9. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1987/052287a.htm

 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.

Further reading

• Levinson, Jeffrey L. and Randy L. Edwards (1997). Missile Inbound. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-517-9.
• Wise, Harold Lee (2007). Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987-88. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-970-3.

External links

• Photos of the damaged Stark
• Host page for PDF version of report: Formal Investigation into the Circumstances Surrounding the Attack of the USS Stark in 1987
• US Navy's Damage Control Museum page on the USS Stark
• navsource.org: USS Stark (FFG-31)
• Information on Operation Earnest Will
• MaritimeQuest USS Stark FFG-31 pages
• Memorial Site for USS Stark casualties
• NPR's interview with OS2 Gable. Aired May 15, 2008.
• NPR's interview with Michael Tooker. Aired June 9, 2008.

v t e Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates
United States Navy	Oliver Hazard Perry McInerney Wadsworth Duncan Clark George Philip Samuel Eliot Morison Sides Estocin Clifton Sprague John A. Moore Antrim Flatley Fahrion Lewis B. Puller Jack Williams Copeland Gallery Mahlon S. Tisdale Boone Stephen W. Groves Reid Stark John L. Hall Jarrett Aubrey Fitch Underwood Crommelin Curts Doyle Halyburton McClusky Klakring Thach De Wert Rentz Nicholas Vandegrift Robert G. Bradley Taylor Gary Carr Hawes Ford Elrod Simpson Reuben James Samuel B. Roberts Kauffman Rodney M. Davis Ingraham
Royal Australian Navy Adelaide class	Adelaide Canberra Sydney Darwin Melbourne Newcastle
Republic of China Navy Cheng Kung class	Cheng Kung Cheng Ho Chi Kuang Yueh Fei Tzu I Pan Chao Chang Chien Tian Dan
Spanish Navy Santa María class	Santa María Victoria Numancia Reina Sofía Navarra Canarias
Other operators  Royal Bahrain Naval Force Sabha (ex-Jack Williams) Khalid Bin Ali (ex-Robert G. Bradley)  Egyptian Navy Mubarak class / Alexandria class Sharm El-Sheik (ex-Fahrion) Toushka (ex-Lewis B. Puller) Mubarak / Alexandria (ex-Copeland) Taba (ex-Gallery)  Pakistan Navy Alamgir (ex-McInerney)  Polish Navy Gen. K. Pułaski (ex-Clark) Generał Tadeusz Kościuszko (ex-Wadsworth)  Turkish Naval Forces G class Gaziantep (ex-Clifton Sprague) Giresun (ex-Antrim) Gemlik (ex-Flatley) Gelibolu (ex-Reid) Gökçeada (ex-Mahlon S. Tisdale) Gediz (ex-John A. Moore) Gökova (ex-Samuel Eliot Morison) Göksu (ex-Estocin)  Republic of China Navy Ming Chuan (ex-Taylor) Feng Jia (ex-Gary)
Preceded by: Knox class Followed by: Constellation class
List of frigates of the United States Navy List of frigates of the Royal Australian Navy List of frigates of the Republic of China Navy List of frigates of the Spanish Navy

• Maritime incidents in 1987
• Military history of the United States (1900–1999)
• Iraq–United States relations
• History of the United States Navy
• 1980 ships
• Oliver Hazard Perry class frigates of the United States Navy
• Ships damaged by aircraft