USS Brewton

USS Brewton (FF-1086) is a Knox-class frigate of the United States Navy and the first ship of her name. She is currently in service with the Republic of China Navy as the ROCS Fong Yang (FFG-933).

Design and description
The Knox class design was derived from the Brooke-class frigate modified to extend range and without a long-range missile system. The ships had an overall length of 438 ft, a beam of 47 ft and a draft of 25 ft. They displaced 4066 LT at full load. Their crew consisted of 13 officers and 211 enlisted men.

The ships were equipped with one Westinghouse geared steam turbine that drove the single propeller shaft. The turbine was designed to produce 35000 shp, using steam provided by 2 C-E boilers, to reach the designed speed of 27 kn. The Knox class had a range of 4500 nmi at a speed of 20 kn.

The Knox-class ships were armed with a 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 gun forward and a single 3"/50 caliber gun aft. They mounted an eight-round ASROC launcher between the 5-inch (127 mm) gun and the bridge. Close-range anti-submarine defense was provided by two twin 12.75 in Mk 32 torpedo tubes. The ships were equipped with a torpedo-carrying DASH drone helicopter; its telescoping hangar and landing pad were positioned amidships aft of the mack. Beginning in the 1970s, the DASH was replaced by a SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I helicopter and the hangar and landing deck were accordingly enlarged. Most ships also had the 3-inch (76 mm) gun replaced by an eight-cell BPDMS missile launcher in the early 1970s.

US service
Brewton was launched 24 July 1971 and commissioned on 8 July 1972 and assigned to Destroyer Squadron 33 at Pearl Harbor.

The body of the Vietnam Unknown Soldier was transported aboard Brewton to Naval Air Station Alameda, California in May 1984. The remains were then sent to Travis Air Force Base, California, 24 May. The Vietnam Unknown arrived at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, the next day.

She was decommissioned on 2 July 1992 at Naval Station Pearl Harbor after over 20 years of service, and struck from the Naval Register on 11 January 1995.

Taiwanese service
On 29 September 1999, she was sold to Taiwan under the Security Assistance Program, where she was renamed ROCS Fong Yang (FFG-933). She held a foreign sonar contact for 16 hours off of Taiwan's east coast. She is currently in active service.

Ship awards

 * National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star
 * Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ 1 star
 * Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon w/ 1 star
 * Humanitarian Service Medal
 * Joint Meritorious Unit Award
 * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
 * Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
 * Navy Battle "E" Ribbon