USS Kauffman (FFG-59) - Definition and Overview

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Career
Ordered:
Laid down:	8 April 1985
Launched:	29 March 1986
Commissioned:	28 February 1987
Status:	Active in service as of 2005.
Homeport:	NS Norfolk, Virginia
General Characteristics
Displacement:	4,100 tons (4,165 t) full load
Length:	453 ft (138.1 m), overall
Beam:	45 ft (13.7 m)
Draft:	22 ft (6.7 m)
Propulsion:	2 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines generating 41,000 shp (31 MW) through a single shaft and controllable-pitch propeller
Speed:	29+ knots (54+ km/h)
Range:	5,000 nm (9,300 km) at 18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement:	15 officers and 190 enlisted, plus SH-60 LAMPS detachment of roughly six officer pilots and 15 enlisted maintainers
Armament:	One OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun; one Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine); two Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes; one Vulcan Phalanx CIWS; four .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns.
Aircraft:	2 × SH-60 LAMPS III helicopters
Motto:	Toujous en Vedette ("Always in the Lead")
Nickname:

USS Kauffman (FFG-59), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, is a ship of the United States Navy named for Vice Admiral James L. Kauffman (1887–1963) and his son, Rear Admiral Draper L. Kauffman (1911–1979), both experts both in sub-surface naval missions.

Kauffman was laid down on 8 April 1985 by the Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine; launched on 29 March 1986; and commissioned on 28 February 1987. As of 2005, Kauffman is homeported at NS Norfolk, Virginia, and assigned to Destroyer Squadron 26.

External links

• USS Kauffman official website (http://www.kauffman.navy.mil/)
• navsource.org: USS Kauffman (http://www.navsource.org/archives/07/0759.htm)
• navysite.de: USS Kauffman (http://www.navysite.de/ffg/FFG59.HTM)