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U.S.S. VREELAND
(FF-1068)WHERE DUTY AND GLORY LEAD
Click to view crew list
USS VREELAND (FF-1068) - a Knox-class frigate
In Commission 1970 to 1992FF-1068 Deployments - Major Events
Add a FF-1068 Shellback Initiation | Add a FF-1068 Deployment - Major Event | ||||
Month | Year | to | Month | Year | Deployment / Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
MAR | 1968 | - | Keel Date: 20 MAR 1968 at Avondale Shipyard Inc. Westwego LA | ||
JUN | 1969 | - | Launch Date: 14 JUN 1969 | ||
JUN | 1970 | - | Commissioned: 13 JUN 1970 | ||
AUG | 1972 | - | SEP | 1975 | Mediterranean |
JUN | 1977 | - | NOV | 1977 | UNITAS |
AUG | 1977 | - | Shellback Initiation - 21 AUG 1977 - Atlantic Ocean | ||
SEP | 1977 | - | Shellback Initiation - 15 SEP 1977 - Pacific Ocean | ||
NOV | 1978 | - | MAY | 1979 | Mediterranean-Indian Ocean-Persian Gulf |
JAN | 1982 | - | OCT | 1982 | Mediterranean |
APR | 1984 | - | OCT | 1984 | Mediterranean |
MAY | 1985 | - | MAY | 1985 | Caribbean |
JUN | 1985 | - | JUN | 1985 | Second Consecutive Battle Efficiency Award for Excellence |
JUN | 1985 | - | JUL | 1985 | SPECOPS North Atlantic |
AUG | 1985 | - | AUG | 1985 | Dependents Cruise |
AUG | 1985 | - | SEP | 1985 | Ocean Safari |
NOV | 1985 | - | NOV | 1985 | Caribbean |
JAN | 1986 | - | MAY | 1986 | Libya Expedition (Gulf of Sidra and crossing Line of Death) |
JAN | 1986 | - | SEP | 1986 | Mediterranean |
FEB | 1986 | - | FEB | 1986 | FLEETEX 1-86 Puerto Rican Oparea |
MAY | 1986 | - | MAY | 1986 | Distant Hammer 86 |
JUN | 1986 | - | JUN | 1986 | Exercise Tridente 86 |
AUG | 1986 | - | AUG | 1986 | Crown Prince of Spain Visit |
OCT | 1986 | - | OCT | 1986 | Third Consecutive Battle Efficiency Award for Excellence |
NOV | 1986 | - | NOV | 1986 | I-SHAREM 1-87 |
JAN | 1987 | - | JAN | 1987 | BLASTEX 1-87 |
FEB | 1987 | - | MAR | 1987 | Port Visit Miami FL |
JUN | 1987 | - | JUN | 1987 | Dependents Cruise |
JUL | 1987 | - | AUG | 1987 | Guantanamo Bay |
AUG | 1987 | - | SEP | 1987 | FLEETEX 4-87 |
SEP | 1987 | - | SEP | 1987 | Port Visit Fort Lauderdale FL |
FEB | 1988 | - | AUG | 1988 | Mediterranean |
DEC | 1989 | - | JAN | 1990 | Operation Just Cause (Panama) |
DEC | 1990 | - | JAN | 1991 | Desert Shield |
DEC | 1990 | - | JUN | 1991 | Desert Storm |
FEB | 1991 | - | JUN | 1992 | Decommisioning |
JUN | 1992 | - | JUN | 1992 | Decommisioning |
FF-1068 General Specifications
Class: Knox-class frigate
Named for: Charles E. Vreeland
Complement: 18 Officers and 267 Enlisted
Displacement: 3208 tons
Length: 438 feet
Beam: 46 feet 9 inches
Flank Speed: over 27 knots
Final Disposition: Transferred to Greece 30 June 1992
USS VREELAND (FF-1068)
Vreeland (DE-1068) was laid down on 20 March 1968 by the Avondale Shipyard at Westwego, La.; launched
on 16 June
1969; sponsored by Mrs. Jamie L. Whitten, wife of the Congressman representing Mississippi's 2d Congressional
District; and commissioned at Charleston,
S.C., on 13 June 1970, Comdr. David R. Stefferud
in command.
After
fitting out at Charleston and shakedown training in the West Indies, Vreeland returned to
Charleston to
join Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 4. She completed repairs in February 1971
and final contract trials in March and then began preparations for her first deployment to the Mediterranean
area. The warship departed Charleston on 15 April and arrived in Rota, Spain, on the 25th. During the next
six months, she steamed the length and breadth of the "middle sea" as a
unit of the 6th
Fleet. She visited numerous ports and participated in a host of exercises
with American and Allied naval forces. She concluded that tour of duty at Gibraltar on 8 October when she
changed operational control back to the 2d Fleet and headed home. The warship arrived in Charleston on
the 16th and resumed 2d Fleet operations out of Charleston.
In
the summer of 1972, the ship began preparations for another cruise in the Mediterranean Sea. That
deployment, however, proved different than the previous one. Rather than
deploying for six months and then returning
home to Charleston, Vreeland received orders changing her home port to Athens, Greece. That assignment lasted for the next three years rather
than the normal six months and included the relocation of Vreeland dependents to Athens-all as a part of the Navy's forward deployment program. During those three years, she performed the normal duties of a
unit of the 6th Fleet, visiting ports,
conducting exercises, and
performing surveillance of Soviet ships operating in the Mediterranean.
On 1 July 1975, Vreeland
was reclassified a frigate and redesignated FF-1068. Three days later, she
departed Greece to begin her voyage back to the United States. The warship concluded that voyage and her three-year deployment at Philadelphia on 30 July. After post-deployment standdown, she moved south
to Norfolk in September for repairs
but returned to Philadelphia in October in time to participate in the
Navy's 200th birthday celebration on the
13th. Duty as a surface warfare
school ship and more repairs at Norfolk followed.
On 6 December, the frigate entered the Philadelphia Naval
Shipyard where she spent the following year undergoing
a major overhaul. Her refurbishing completed
on 2 December 1976, the warship resumed duty as an active unit of the Fleet early in 1977. Refresher training and various qualification exercises out
of her new home port, Mayport, Fla.,
occupied her during the first six
months of 1977. On 25 July, she departed Mayport for a cruise to South America to participate in UNITAS XVIII, the annual series of exercises in which units of various South American navies join
the United States Navy in practicing
the skills of hemispheric defense. In November, she concluded her UNITAS cruise and reentered Mayport on the 25th. Leave
and upkeep in port took up her time
for the remainder of the year.
A part of January and
February 1978 was devoted to a
restricted availability for Vreeland. The frigate devoted the ensuing months to preparations for her
forthcoming deployment to the Middle East. Vreeland departed from Mayport on 23 July in company with Mullinix (DD-944). Following fuel stops at Bermuda, the Azores, and Rota, Spain, the ships transited
the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal
and arrived at Port Sudan, Sudan, on
9 August. A turnover from Glover (AGFF-1) and Barney (DDG-6) was effected, and Vreeland joined the Middle East Force.
The remainder of the year was spent
in operations with that group. On 31
December, Vreeland and Mullinix retransited the Suez Canal on
their return to the United States.
[Note: The above USS VREELAND (FF-1068) history may, or may not, contain text provided by crew members of the USS VREELAND (FF-1068), or by other non-crew members, and text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships]