Can anyone remember the name and the type of ship that was struck some years ago by and Iraqi missile? I believe the ship was a cruiser or destroyer deployed in the Med region. The ship was struck on the port side somewhere forward or near the bridge. This was back when Iraq was considered one of the good guys. From what I can remember, the ship involved never put up any kind of defense. Damage was considerable but the ship was saved, I think!
Also, can anyone provide a good definition about the “beam” when referring to ships? Is this the measurement form the deck to the waterline, or does it refer to height from the deck to the top of the bridge? Just courious!
I’m not sure about the ship struck by the Iraqi missile, but the “beam” of a ship refers to the width of the Hull at its maximum width. “Abeam” refers to an object beside rather than in front of or behind the ship. The measurement from the waterline to the deck (I assume you refer to the weather deck or the deck that is the top of the hull) is called the “freeboard.” The overall height of the ship from the waterline is called the “mast height” even if the ship has no masts per se. There is no term for the height of the bridge other than the height of the bridge. This measurement is not used when a ship’s dimensions are recorded. I hope this helps.
Paul
The ship in question was the USS Stark (FFG-31). She was a Oliver Hazzard Perry class guided missle frigate. She was struck by and French Exocet missle fired from an Iraqi fighter by “mistake”. She was saved and served untill decommisioned on May 7,1999.
As soon as I saw the question, I knew I should have known the answer.
I owned the Avalon Hill game “Sixth Fleet”. I used to spend a lot of time looking at the map spread open and all the different pieces spread about. I used to wonder what to do about the USS Stark.
heres a bit of history trivia concerning the USS Samual B RobertsFFG 58
what is the common thread between the Samual B Roberts, USS Carr FFG 52, and USS Copeland FFG 25? aside from the fact that they are all Perry class frigates, there is another common thread between the three ships. The original Samual B Roberts was a DE lost in the battle of Leyte gulf. LCDR Copeland was the Sammy B’s commanding officer, Paul Henry Carr [gunners mate 3rd class] tried to keep his gun firing depite the gun being nearly disabled and horrible injuries to himself. recommend the book “Little Wolf at Leyte” to read more about the actions of the " Sammy B" and her crew at the battle of Leyte gulf.