USS Jack Williams (FFG-24)

USS Jack Williams (FFG-24)
History
United States
Name:	Jack Williams
Namesake:	U.S. Navy Pharmacist Mate, Jack Williams
Ordered:	28 February 1977
Builder:	Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Laid down:	25 February 1980
Launched:	30 August 1980
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Fern Williams Carr, sister of PhM3c Williams
Commissioned:	19 September 1981
Decommissioned:	13 September 1996
Stricken:	13 September 1996
Homeport:	Mayport, Florida
Identification:	Hull symbol:FFG-24 Code letters:NNJW
Motto:	Guardez Bien (Guard Well)
Nickname(s):	The Arky
Fate:	transferred to Bahrain, 1996
RBNS Sabha (FFG 90) participates in Exercise Arabian Shark.
Bahrain
Name:	Sabha
Namesake:	"Morning" in Arabic
Acquired:	13 September 1996
Identification:	FFG-90
Status:	in active service
General characteristics [1]
Class and 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)
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:	1 × SH-2F LAMPS I[2]

USS Jack Williams (FFG-24), sixteenth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Jack Williams, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the Battle of Iwo Jima.

Ordered from Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, on 28 February 1977 as part of the FY77 program, Jack Williams was laid down on 25 February 1980; launched on 30 August 1980, sponsored by Mrs. Fern Williams Carr, sister of PhM3c Williams; and commissioned on 19 September 1981, Commander Hugh Edward Carroll II in command.

Decommissioned and stricken on 13 September 1996, she was transferred to Bahrain the same day and recommissioned as RBNS Sabha (FFG-90).

Jack Williams (FFG-24) was the first ship of that name in the US Navy.

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.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Jack Williams at NavSource Naval History
• navysite.de: USS Jack Williams
• MaritimeQuest USS Jack Williams FFG-24 pages