Knox-class frigate

Knox-class frigate USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073) and the skyline of San Francisco in the background
Class overview
Builders	Todd Shipyard, Seattle and San Pedro Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company Avondale Shipyard
Operators	United States Navy  Republic of China Navy  Egyptian Navy  Hellenic Navy  Mexican Navy  Royal Thai Navy  Turkish Naval Forces
Preceded by	Garcia class / Brooke class
Succeeded by	Oliver Hazard Perry class
Subclasses	Baleares class Allende class Phutthayotfa Chulalok class
Built	1965–1974
In commission	1969–1994 (USN)
Planned	55
Completed	46
Cancelled	9[1]
Retired	46 (USN), some were transferred to other countries where they are in active service
Preserved	2
General characteristics
Type	Ocean escort (1964–1975) Frigate (1975–1994)
Displacement	4,065 long tons (4,130 t) (full load)
Length	438 ft (134 m)
Beam	46 ft 9 in (14.25 m)
Draft	24 ft 9 in (7.54 m)
Installed power	2 × 1,200 psi (8,300 kPa) boilers 35,000 shp (26,000 kW)
Propulsion	1 × Westinghouse steam turbine 1 × shaft
Speed	27 kn (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	17 officers, 240 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-10 Surface Search Radar AN/SPS-40 Air Search Radar AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar AN/SQS-26 active/passive Sonar AN/SQR-18 Towed array sonar system AN/SPG-53 Mk68 Gun Fire Control System
Electronic warfare & decoys	As Built AN/WLR-1C – AN/ULQ-6C and AN/SLA-15 (Comprising AN/SLQ-26 System) AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System and Mark 36 SRBOC
Armament	As built: 1 × 5 in (127 mm)/54 caliber Mark 42 gun 1 × Mk-16 8–cell ASROC launcher 2 × dual Mark 32 Mark 46 torpedo launchers First refit: 1 × Mk-25 8–cell RIM-7 Sea Sparrow (BPDMS) (DE-1052–1069 and 1071–1083) 1 × Mk-29 8–cell RIM-7H Improved Sea Sparrow (IBPDMS) (DE-1070) Mk-16 2 cells converted to launch HARPOON Second refit: 1 × Phalanx CIWS (RIM-7/7H Sea Sparrow removed)
Aircraft carried	1 × QH-50 (DASH) helicopter 1 × SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter (refit)

The 46 Knox-class frigates were the largest, last, and most numerous of the US Navy's second-generation anti-submarine warfare (ASW) escorts. Originally laid down as ocean escorts (formerly called destroyer escorts), they were all redesignated as frigates on 30 June 1975, in the 1975 ship reclassification plan and their hull designation changed from 'DE' to 'FF'. The Knox class was the Navy's last destroyer-type design with a steam turbine powerplant.

Due to their unequal comparison to destroyers then in service (larger size with lower speed and only a single propeller and 5-inch gun), they became known to a generation of destroyermen as "McNamara's Folly."^[2]

These ships were retired from the US Navy at the end of the Cold War due to their relatively high running costs, a declining defense budget, and the need for ships with a more advanced anti-submarine capability. None of the ships served more than 23 years in the US Navy, and by 1994, all of the class had been retired, although some remain in service with foreign nations such as Egypt, Taiwan, Thailand, and Mexico.