[World Article] Decommissioning plan pulls all frigates from fleet by end of FY '15

Start saying goodbye to the frigatesThe Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate USS Rodney M. Davis (FFG 60) conducts a passing exercise with the Indonesian Navy Sigma-class corvette KRI Sultan Hasanuddin (366).(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Derek A. Harkins/Released)

By October 2015, the fleet will be devoid of frigates for the first time in more than 70 years, according to the Navy’s latest decommissioning plan.

The Navy plans to retire all of the remaining frigates, as well as five ships and two subs, during fiscal year 2015, the service announced Tuesday.

The last Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate to be decommissioned is the Kauffman, scheduled for Sept. 21, 2015. After that, the battle force will be without a frigate class for the first time since 1943, according to fleet composition records kept by Naval History and Heritage Command.

Most of the frigates are to be sold to foreign navies.

The only technical exception to frigate retirements is “Old Ironsides”: the Constitution, rated as a “frigate” when it was launched in 1797, remains in commission. The tri-masted sailing ship does not count toward the Navy’s force levels.

In addition to the frigates, the ship inactivation plan announced Tuesday said the minesweeper Defender, the attack submarines La Jolla and Norfolk, and the amphibious assault ship Peleliu will be inactivated next year. The replenishment ship Rainier and two research vessels also will be inactivated, as will the survey ship Sumner.

The fiscal 2015 inactivation schedule, according to NAVADMIN 152/14:

■ Oct. 1, 2014: Minesweeper Defender, dismantling; research vessel Melville, Foreign military sale.

■ Dec. 1: Attack submarine La Jolla, conversion to moored training ship.

■ Dec. 15: Attack submarine Norfolk, dismantling.

■ Dec. 31: Research vessel Knorr, foreign military sale.

■ Jan. 14, 2015: Frigate McClusky, foreign military sale.

■ Jan 30: Frigate Elrod, foreign military sale.

■ March 31: Amphibious assault ship Peleliu, out of commission/in reserve; frigates Ingraham (dismantling), Vandegrift (foreign military sale) and Rodney M. Davis (foreign military sale).

■ May 8: Frigate Taylor, foreign military sale.

■ May 22: Frigate Samuel B. Roberts, dismantling.

■ Aug. 5: Frigate Gary, foreign military sale.

■ Aug. 14: Frigate Simpson, foreign military sale.

■ Sept. 21: Frigate Kauffman, foreign military sale.

■ Sept. 30: Replenishment ship Rainier, out of commission/in reserve.

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