USS Bowen

USS Bowen (DE-1079/FF-1079) was a Knox-class frigate of the United States Navy. She was named for Vice Admiral Harold G. Bowen, Sr. (1883–1965), former chief of the Naval Research Laboratory and the Office of Naval Research, who was deceased at the time of her commissioning. Admiral Bowen's son and namesake, Harold G. Bowen, Jr., who also retired as a vice admiral, presided over the U.S. Navy's 1969 inquiry into the Pueblo incident.

USS Bowen (FF-1079)
History
United States
Name: Bowen
Namesake: Harold G. Bowen, Sr.
Ordered: 25 August 1966
Builder: Avondale Shipyard, Westwego, Louisiana
Laid down: 11 July 1969
Launched: 2 May 1970
Acquired: 17 May 1971
Commissioned: 22 May 1971
Decommissioned: 30 June 1994
Stricken: 11 January 1995
Motto: Protect and Preserve
Fate: Transferred to Turkey 22 February 2002
Turkey
Name: TCG Akdeniz
Acquired: 22 February 2002
Decommissioned: 2011
Identification: F 257
General characteristics
Class and type: Knox-class frigate
Displacement: 3,220 tons (4,201 full load)
Length: 438 ft 0 in (133.5 m)
Beam: 46 ft 9 in (14.2 m)
Draft: 24 ft 9 in (7.5 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × CE 1200 psi boilers
  • 1 Westinghouse geared turbine
  • 1 shaft, 35,000 shp (26,099 kW)
Speed: over 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph)
Complement: 18 officers, 267 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • AN/SPS-40 air search radar
  • AN/SPS-67 surface search radar
  • AN/SQS-26 sonar
  • AN/SQS-35 towed array sonar system
  • Mk68 gun fire control system
Electronic warfare
& decoys:		 AN/SLQ-32 electronics warfare system
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 1 × SH-2 Seasprite (LAMPS I) helicopter

Service history

Bowen was built by Avondale Shipyard at Westwego, Louisiana. Bowen was laid down on 11 July 1969 and launched on 2 May 1970. The frigate was delivered on 17 May 1971. She was commissioned on 22 May 1971.

Commanded by Commander Arthur Drennan, Bowen was part of the expeditionary force deployed off the coast of Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War. In early September 1983, United States Marines at the Beirut International Airport came under artillery fire. After repeated warnings, Bowen was ordered to fire in defense of the Marines. On 8 September 1983, Bowen opened fire with her 5-inch gun, destroying several artillery pieces and a fire control tower in the mountains, 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Beirut. Bowen's action received international media attention as the ship became the first warship to engage in hostile fire in the Mediterranean Sea since World War II. In all, Bowen made six firing runs, firing a total of 75 shells at hostile targets. For their actions, Bowen's crew was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation, the Navy Expeditionary Medal and proudly adopted the slogan "First to Shoot in Beirut". In early October 1983, after one month on the "Gun Line", Bowen was relieved by the battleship USS New Jersey.

Bowen was decommissioned on 30 June 1994 and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 January 1995.

Bowen was disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP), transferred, Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) Section 516, Southern Region Amendment, to Turkey 22 February 2002. She served there as Akdeniz (F-257) until 2011.

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