USS Connole

USS Connole (FF-1056) was a Knox-class frigate, named for Commander David R. Connole, Captain of USS Trigger (SS-237) when the submarine was lost in battle in March 1945.

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-inch/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.

Construction and career
Connole was constructed for the United States Navy by Avondale Shipyard, Westwego, Louisiana, laid down 23 March 1967, launched 20 July 1968 and delivered 22 August 1969. She was commissioned 30 August 1969, served as a test bed for some of the Navy's most advanced sonars, decommissioned 30 August 1992 and struck 11 January 1995. Connole was transferred to Greece as Ipiros (F456), named after the region of Epirus. The ship was decommissioned by Greece in 2003.