.gif)
USS Aylwin (FF-1081)
Encyclopedia
USS Aylwin (FF-1081) was a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. She was the fourth vessel named for John Cushing Aylwin
John Cushing Aylwin
John Cushing Aylwin was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.Born in Quebec, Canada, Aylwin worked on board British naval vessels at an early age. Though never formally enrolled in the Royal Navy, he received increasing responsibilities eventually performing the duties of a...
. Aylwin was laid down on 13 November 1969 at Westwego, La., by the Avondale Shipyard, Inc.; launched on 29 August 1970; sponsored by Mrs. Charles K. Duncan
Charles K. Duncan
Charles Kenney Duncan was a United States Navy four star admiral who served as Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic/Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Command/Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet from 1970 to 1972.-Military career:Duncan was born on December 7, 1911 in Nicholasville,...
; and commissioned on 18 September 1971 at the Boston Naval Shipyard
Boston Navy Yard
The Boston Navy Yard, originally called the Charlestown Navy Yard and later Boston Naval Shipyard, was one of the oldest shipbuilding facilities in the United States Navy. Established in 1801, it was officially closed as an active naval installation on July 1, 1974, and the property was...
, Comdr. Dan E. Fenn in command.
1971–1973
Early in December, the destroyer escort sailed for her home port, Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
, and arrived there on 10 December. After spending the holidays in port, Aylwin headed for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, for shakedown training. While en roue, Aylwin stopped at Andros Island
Andros, Bahamas
Andros Island is an archipelago within the archipelago-nation of the Bahamas, the largest of the 26 inhabited Bahamian Islands. Geo-politically considered a single island, Andros has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined...
, Bahamas, for weapons testing. Arriving at Guantanamo Bay
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...
on 24 January 1972, the ship began four weeks of intensive training. She visited Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo, known officially as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic. Its metropolitan population was 2,084,852 in 2003, and estimated at 3,294,385 in 2010. The city is located on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River...
for a liberty call before returning to Norfolk for post-shakedown availability. Late in October, the vessel participated in LAN-TREDEX 2-72 and then made final preparations for her first overseas deployment. On 1 December, Aylwin departed Norfolk to join the 6th Fleet
United States 6th Fleet
The Sixth Fleet is the United States Navy's operational unit and staff of United States Naval Forces Europe. The fleet once had its headquarters in Gaeta, Italy, commanded by a Vice Admiral. However, beginning in 2004, the Sixth Fleet staff was combined with United States Naval Forces Europe staff,...
in the Mediterranean. Her first stop was at El Ferrol, Spain
Ferrol, A Coruña
Ferrol , sometimes in Spanish El Ferrol, is a city in the province of A Coruña in Galicia, located on the Atlantic coast in north-western Spain...
. Departing that port on 13 December, she transited the Strait of Gibraltar
Strait of Gibraltar
The Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain in Europe from Morocco in Africa. The name comes from Gibraltar, which in turn originates from the Arabic Jebel Tariq , albeit the Arab name for the Strait is Bab el-Zakat or...
and proceeded to Athens, Greece
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, where she spent the holiday season.
On 6 January 1973, Aylwin got underway for antisubmarine warfare (ASW) operations to be held in the eastern Mediterranean in conjunction with Task Force (TF) 60. The ship pulled in to Golfe-Juan
Golfe-Juan
Golfe-Juan is a seaside resort on France's Côte d'Azur. The distinct local character of Golfe-Juan is indicated by the existence of a demonym, "Golfe-Juanais," which is applied to its inhabitants.-Overview:...
, France, on 17 January, then continued on to Gibraltar. Next came ASW operations in the eastern Mediterranean followed by a visit to Naples, Italy
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, for a two-week tender availability. The destroyer escort then visited Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. On 17 February, she participated in NATO Exercise "National Week," held in conjunction with British, Italian, and Turkish warships. She arrived at Alanya, Turkey, on 28 February and then stopped at Athens; La Maddalena
La Maddalena
La Maddalena is a town and comune located on the island with the same name, in northern Sardinia, part of the province of Olbia-Tempio, Italy.-The town:...
, Italy; Alicante, Barcelona, and Valencia, Spain
Valencia (city in Spain)
Valencia or València is the capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third largest city in Spain, with a population of 809,267 in 2010. It is the 15th-most populous municipality in the European Union...
; Tunis, Tunisia
Tunis
Tunis is the capital of both the Tunisian Republic and the Tunis Governorate. It is Tunisia's largest city, with a population of 728,453 as of 2004; the greater metropolitan area holds some 2,412,500 inhabitants....
; Villefranche, Cannes, and Toulon, France
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
; and Gibraltar. On 20 June, Aylwin got underway once more for the United States. She paused at the Naval Weapons Station, Yorktown
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown
Naval Weapons Station Yorktown is a United States Navy base in York County, James City County, and Newport News in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia...
, Virginia, on 27 June, to unload her weapons and returned to Norfolk the next day ending an absence of seven months. The ship was dry-docked from 19 July to 20 August. She received the light air multi-purpose system (LAMPS) modification during a yard period lasting through 26 October. A tender availability came in November, and December found the ship in a stand-down period.
1974–1975
The destroyer escort sailed on 19 February 1974 for refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. While there, she took part in ASW exercises in addition to testing her new LAMPS equipment. She returned to Norfolk on 27 April to make final preparations for her second overseas deployment. On 17 June, Aylwin set sail for the Mideast and the Indian OceanIndian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. Her first stop was Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, where she held gunnery exercises. She then proceeded to Trinidad for a refueling stop. Aylwin next put in to Recife, Brazil
Recife
Recife is the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Brazil with 4,136,506 inhabitants, the largest metropolitan area of the North/Northeast Regions, the 5th-largest metropolitan influence area in Brazil, and the capital and largest city of the state of Pernambuco. The population of the city proper...
, for a brief liberty period.
She got underway again on the 28th to cross the Atlantic and arrived at Freetown, Sierra Leone
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, on 2 July. Aylwin
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
. Her visit there was curtailed by an outbreak of violence associated with that country's bid for independence from Portugal. The vessel weighed anchor on 13 July, sailed around the Cape of Good Hope, and entered the Indian Ocean. Aylwin arrived in Port Louis, Mauritius
Port Louis
-Economy:The economy is dominated by its port, which handles Mauritius' international trade. The port was founded by the French who preferred Port Louis as the City is shielded by the Port Louis/Moka mountain range. It is the largest container handling facility in the Indian Ocean and can...
, on 26 July, and continued on to Reunion Island
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
on 31 July. Her next stop was Moroni, Great Comoro Island. On 6 August, she arrived at Mombasa, Kenya
Mombasa
Mombasa is the second-largest city in Kenya. Lying next to the Indian Ocean, it has a major port and an international airport. The city also serves as the centre of the coastal tourism industry....
. The destroyer escort got underway again on the 17th and spent the next two months patrolling the Gulf of Aden
Gulf of Aden
The Gulf of Aden is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, which is about 20 miles wide....
, the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
, and the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
. She made brief stops at Djibouti, Afars and Issas; Masirah, Oman; Bahrain; Bandar Abbas
Bandar Abbas
Bandar-Abbas or Bandar-e ‘Abbās , also Romanized as Bandar ‘Abbās, Bandar ‘Abbāsī, and Bandar-e ‘Abbās; formerly known as Cambarão and Port Comorão to Portuguese traders, as Gombroon to English traders and as Gamrun or Gumrun to Dutch merchants) is a port city and capital of Hormozgān Province on...
, Iran; and Massawa, Ethiopia.
After final calls at Mombasa and Port Louis, Aylwin sailed on 8 November to return to the United States. She retraced her earlier course and made stops at Recife, Brazil, and Roosevelt Roads before reaching Norfolk on 13 December.
1975–1976
The ship returned to sea in mid-February 1975 with a series of exercises in the Virginia capesVirginia Capes
The Virginia Capes are the two capes, Cape Charles to the north and Cape Henry to the south, that define the entrance to Chesapeake Bay on the eastern coast of North America....
area. On 17 March, she sailed from Norfolk, bound for the Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 , the Bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago...
operating area to conduct a LAMPS test. During the cruise, she visited New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Albany, N.Y., before returning to Norfolk on 28 March. The next two months were occupied by a series of inspections. On 12 June, Aylwin sailed for Newport, R.I., to conduct a midshipman training cruise. While on this assignment, Aylwin was officially reclassified a frigate and redesignated FF-1081 on 1 July. She returned to Norfolk on 3 July. The ship sailed on 7 August for Guantanamo Bay and the fleet exercise CARIBEX. The next day, she experienced mechanical difficulties and proceeded to the Charleston Naval Shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
for repairs. After two more attempts to sail to the Caribbean, Aylwin turned back to Norfolk on 27 August. After a month of repairs and preparations, the frigate sailed on 3 October for the Mediterranean. She reached Rota, Spain
Rota, Spain
-External references:*, official website * On-line since 1999! News, premiere information, pictures, weather, etc. Into Spanish, English... ****- External links :...
, on 13 October and was scheduled to take part in exercises. However, a boiler problem necessitated a run to Naples, Italy, for a two-week availability alongside tender . With the repairs completed, Aylwin set sail for Toulon, France, on 2 November to join NATO forces in Exercise "Isle d'Or." Following this operation, Aylwin arrived in Palermo, Sicily
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, on 20 November. Additional visits were made at Athens, Greece; Souda Bay, Crete; and Kusadasi, Turkey. Aylwin returned to Naples on 22 December 1975 for the Christmas holidays.
On 7 January 1976, Aylwin got underway with Task Group (TG) 60.1 for ASW exercises. She then sailed to the ports of Piraeus, Greece
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
; Souda Bay; Bodrum, Turkey; Catania, Sicily; Valencia, Spain; Palma, Majorca; and Gaeta and Genoa, Italy
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. Aylwin briefly stopped once again at Rota on 17 April, then left the Mediterranean, bound for Norfolk where she spent May and early June in leave and upkeep. A week of ASW exercises came in mid-June. On 26 July, Aylwin proceeded to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, where she entered drydock at the naval shipyard on 8 August for overhaul.
1977–1978
The frigate departed Philadelphia on 6 June 1977 and steamed to her new home port, Charleston, S.C. There, she became a unit of Destroyer SquadronDESRON
A destroyer squadron is a naval squadron or flotilla usually consisting of destroyers rather than other types of vessel. In some navies other vessels, such as frigates, may be included. In English the word "squadron" tends to be used for larger and "flotilla" for smaller vessels, both may be used...
20. During the next six weeks, Aylwin conducted local operations; and, on 18 July, she headed for the Caribbean and refresher training. She was back in Charleston on 20 September and spent the rest of the year in training exercises and inspections.
Aylwin put to sea on 3 January 1978 to provide submarines and services as a target as they sharpened their hunting skills. The next day, she was directed to proceed to the Key West, Florida, area to conduct surveillance operations and relieve destroyer . She finished these duties on 10 January and arrived back at Charleston on the 11th. The next three months were devoted to local operations and preparations for overseas movement. Aylwin rendezvoused with other units of Cruiser-Destroyer Group 12 off Bermuda on 7 April and sailed across the Atlantic to Malaga, Spain
Málaga
Málaga is a city and a municipality in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia, Spain. With a population of 568,507 in 2010, it is the second most populous city of Andalusia and the sixth largest in Spain. This is the southernmost large city in Europe...
. A series of ASW exercises followed; and, on 29 April, the frigate moored alongside tender at La Maddalena, Sardinia, for an availability. On 14 May, Aylwin put to sea, bound for Souda Bay. There, she joined NATO forces for Exercise "Dawn Patrol". Following that operation, the ship anchored at Skiathos, Greece, on 1 June. Her other ports of call during the cruise were Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
; Golfo di Palmas, Sardinia; St. Tropez
Saint-Tropez
Saint-Tropez is a town, 104 km to the east of Marseille, in the Var department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. It is also the principal town in the canton of Saint-Tropez....
France, Alexandria, Egypt
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Haifa, Israel
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, Piraeus, Greece, Palma, Mallorca and Toulon, France. The last exercise of the deployment was Exercise "Display Determination," which lasted from 26 September to 8 October. Following a final stop at Malaga, Aylwin set sail on 14 October for Charleston. She arrived at her home port 11 days later and spent the remainder of 1978 there undergoing upkeep.
1979
The ship devoted January and February 1979 to training and inspection and, on 26 February, began a restricted availability. She got underway again on 6 April for a dependents' cruise and, 10 days later, proceeded to Puerto Rico for refresher training. From 1 to 8 May, Aylwin took part in SUBASWEX 3-79. After completing this exercise, she sailed to New York City for the celebration of Armed ForcesArmed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
Week. The frigate returned to Charleston late in May and commenced a series of tests and inspections prior to beginning her next overseas deployment.
On 1 August, Aylwin got underway for another Mideast cruise. She made refueling stops at Bermuda and Ponta del Gada before reaching Rota on 11 August. From Rota, she headed to Malaga and then continued eastward. She passed through the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
on 19 August and arrived in Jidda, Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
, on the 22nd. She moved south on 1 September to the Gulf of Aden, thence steamed around the Arabian peninsula
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
and through the Strait of Hormuz
Strait of Hormuz
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow, strategically important waterway between the Gulf of Oman in the southeast and the Persian Gulf. On the north coast is Iran and on the south coast is the United Arab Emirates and Musandam, an exclave of Oman....
to reach Bahrain. The frigate got underway on the 4th to operate in the Persian Gulf and pulled into Dammam, Saudi Arabia, on 16 September for two days of liberty. Aylwin took part in a joint exercise with Saudi forces, then stopped at Bahrain for refueling. She proceeded to the Seychelles Islands on 8 October, but her stay was shortened by civil unrest. On 13 October, Aylwin sailed for Djibouti. From there, she headed into the Gulf of Aden to conduct an exercise with warships of the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
on 22 October.
Aylwin steamed eastward and then north around the Arabian peninsula to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, where she participated in an exercise with naval forces from Oman. The frigate then sailed to Bahrain for a two-week upkeep period. That respite ended abruptly on 4 November when she got underway only two hours after learning that militant Iranian students had stormed into the United States embassy in Tehran and made captives of American diplomatic and military personnel. The frigate headed back into the Persian Gulf for surveillance and patrol duties that lasted until 9 December. On that day, Aylwin began the long voyage home. She paused at Djibouti to refuel, then sailed north, transited the Suez Canal, and continued across the Mediterranean to Rota, Spain, where she arrived on 23 December. After celebrating Christmas in that Spanish port, Aylwin sailed for Charleston on 28 December 1979. Following a stormy Atlantic crossing, she stood into Charleston, S.C., on 7 January 1980.
1980–1982
The frigate completed post-deployment stand-down on 6 February and spent the next two weeks making minor repairs. On the 19th, Aylwin returned to sea to conduct drills with Atlantic Fleet submarines. She carried out such routine training missions along the eastern seaboardEast Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
until the end of April. On the 28th, the warship departed Charleston and set course for Brooklyn, N.Y., where she entered the yard at the Coastal Drydock & Repair Corp. for a major overhaul. The repairs — which included major work to her main propulsion plant, a period in drydock, and many lesser modifications — lasted a year almost exactly. She conducted sea trials on 29 and 30 April 1981 and returned to Charleston on 3 May 1981.
Soon thereafter, Aylwin embarked upon a lengthy period of operations out of Charleston. Those operations consisted of a series of exercises preparatory to certification in the operation of her propulsion system and of her varied ordnance systems. Refresher training in the West Indies
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
followed qualification preparations early in September. The frigate concluded refresher training late in October and reentered her home port on the 25th. Duty out of Charleston continued through the end of 1981 into February 1982. Late in February, Aylwin suffered damage to her high pressure turbine that interrupted her training schedule until mid-April. The warship resumed exercises on 12 April with READEX 5-82 in preparation for a deployment to the Mediterranean planned for June.
1982
On 8 June 1982, the frigate steamed out of Charleston on her way across the Atlantic. In spite of damage she suffered in a collision with support ship during an underway refueling operation, Aylwin continued on to Rota, Spain, and arrived there on the 19th. She entered the Mediterranean SeaMediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
on the 20th and joined a carrier task group built around carrier . The warship's arrival in the Mediterranean came in the immediate aftermath of the 6 June Israeli drive into Lebanon against the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
(PLO) based there. Serious though conditions in Lebanon were, Aylwin carried out normal 6th Fleet operations, including a freedom of navigation
Freedom of Navigation
Freedom of Navigation is a principle of customary International Law that, apart from the exceptions provided for in international law, ships flying the flag of any state shall not suffer interference from other states. This right is now also codified as article 87a of the 1982 United Nations...
mission across Libyan president Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar al-Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
's "Line of Death" into the Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra
Gulf of Sidra is a body of water in the Mediterranean Sea on the northern coast of Libya; it is also known as Gulf of Sirte or the Great Sirte or Greater Syrtis .- Geography :The Gulf of Sidra has been a major centre for tuna fishing in the Mediterranean for centuries...
, until the latter part of August. By then, American diplomat Philip Habib
Philip Habib
Philip Charles Habib was a Lebanese-American career diplomat known for work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East...
had defused the situation in Lebanon by extracting an agreement from the contending parties which called for the departure of the PLO from Lebanese soil. Aylwin served as escort for two of the merchant ships providing transportation. On 21 and 22 August, she convoyed the Greek ship from Beirut to Cyprus with the first contingent of PLO evacuees. Returning to Beirut on the 23d, the frigate shepherded thence through the Suez Canal to Aden where the ships arrived on 29 August. Reversing course that same day, Aylwin retransited the canal and headed for a liberty call at Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...
.
The warship put to sea again on 14 September to conduct antisubmarine warfare (ASW) exercises in the western Mediterranean. That same day, the Lebanese president-elect Bashir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel
Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...
lost his life to assassins. That event and the massacres it sparked prompted France, Italy, and the United States to reconstitute the multinational force that had overseen the PLO evacuation. As a consequence, Aylwin broke off from Operation "Display Determination" and hurried east in company with carrier to support the reentry of the multinational force into Lebanon. Except for an 11-day visit to Gaeta, Italy
Gaeta
Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....
, in mid-October, for repairs and liberty, the frigate patrolled the waters off Lebanon until the middle of November.
Following a liberty call at Pireaus, Greece, between the 18th and the 21st, Aylwin headed for the strategic Straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Passing through the Straits, she conducted training evolutions with destroyer in the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
before calling at Istanbul, Turkey
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, on 26 November. The warship passed through the Straits again on the 28th and conducted operations south of Crete until 7 December when frigate relieved her. Aylwin then laid in a course for Rota, Spain, on the first leg of the voyage back to the United States. The stop at Rota took up two days, and, on 12 December, she embarked upon the Atlantic passage in company with 15 other Navy ships. Aylwin reached Charleston on 22 December.
1983–1985
For most of the first five months of 1983, the frigate carried out no operational activity. Post-deployment standdown lasted well into January while an extended maintenance period occupied February and the better part of March. On 23 and 24 March, she made an overnight passage from Charleston to Norfolk where she entered the drydock on the 24th. Work on her hull and sonar dome took up the next five weeks after which Aylwin returned to Charleston to prepare for a deployment to northern EuropeNorthern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
an waters.
On 29 May, she stood out of Charleston on her way to participate in Operation "United Effort/Ocean Safari '83" which included operations in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
. During that tour of duty
Tour of duty
In the Navy, a tour of duty is a period of time spent performing operational duties at sea, including combat, performing patrol or fleet duties, or assigned to service in a foreign country....
the warship also made port calls at Portsmouth, England
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, on two occasions, and at Malmo, Sweden
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
, and Aalborg, Denmark
Aalborg
-Transport:On the north side of the Limfjord is Nørresundby, which is connected to Aalborg by a road bridge Limfjordsbroen, an iron railway bridge Jernbanebroen over Limfjorden, as well as a motorway tunnel running under the Limfjord Limfjordstunnelen....
, once each. Aylwin returned to Charleston on 25 July and stayed there until the beginning of September. The frigate put to sea again on 2 September and headed south for a four-week assignment in the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
that included calls at a number of tropical ports. Back in Charleston on 4 October, she spent the remainder of 1983 engaged in operations along the east coast.
During the first three months of 1984, Aylwin left Charleston only once, as part of a task group built around to conduct a readiness exercise during the first three weeks of February. Otherwise, she carried out maintenance and repair work that included the removal of her basic point defense surface missile system and its replacement with the phalanx close-in weapons system
Close-in weapon system
A close-in weapon system , often pronounced sea-whiz, is a naval shipboard point-defense weapon for detecting and destroying at short range incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses....
for antiaircraft defense. Between her return to Charleston from the readiness exercise late in February to the beginning of April, the warship concentrated on preparations for her impending assignment to the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea. She stood out of Charleston on 2 April in company with , , and . Aylwin and her three traveling companions made the Atlantic passage in 10 days and joined the 6th Fleet on 13 April. In the course of her six-month tour of duty in the Mediterranean, the frigate participated in two NATO exercises, a number of exercises with units of the 6th Fleet, and the ubiquitous independent ASW evolution. She punctuated her training duties with port visits throughout the "middle sea." Relieved by at Tangier, Morocco, Aylwin got underway to return home on 24 October.
She arrived back in Charleston on 2 November and, after a somewhat abbreviated leave and upkeep period, entered the Charleston Naval Shipyard on the 26th for a three-month availability that stretched into four. On 8 April 1985, Aylwin returned to sea to carry out refresher training in the vicinity of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The frigate completed that mission in mid-May and spent a week in Charleston before heading back to the West Indies on 24 May on a midshipman training cruise. She concluded her second cruise to the tropics at Charleston on 12 June and launched into a routine of inspections, upkeep, and minor repairs. During the first part of August, Aylwin voyaged to Vieques Island
Vieques, Puerto Rico
Vieques , in full Isla de Vieques, is an island–municipality of Puerto Rico in the northeastern Caribbean, part of an island grouping sometimes known as the Spanish Virgin Islands...
, near Puerto Rico, for shore bombardment drills.
Back in Charleston on 12 August, she began preparations to visit northern European waters and the Baltic Sea. She embarked upon that two-month assignment on 26 August participating in Exercise "Ocean Safari '85 during the Atlantic crossing. After a call at Dublin, Ireland, between 22 and 27 September, the frigate sailed to the Baltic Sea. She stopped at Copenhagen, Denmark
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, and at Kiel, Germany
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, before carrying out training operations in the Baltic Sea. Aylwin made a final European port visit at Aalborg, Denmark, from 21 to 27 October and then got underway to return to the United States. She arrived back at Charleston on 6 November. Aylwin stayed at Charleston through the end of 1985 and for the first month of 1986. She went back to sea on 3 February 1986 to participate in FLEETEX 2-86 as part of the ASW screen for .
1986–1988
The frigate returned to Charleston on 25 February and began two weeks of feverish activity preparing for an early deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. On 10 March, she stood out of Charleston in company with America once again and shaped a course for the Strait of Gibraltar. Aylwin and her colleagues passed into the Mediterranean on the 19th and became part of the 6th Fleet. Five days later, the warship joined in another freedom of navigation operationAction in the Gulf of Sidra (1986)
In the Action in the Gulf of Sidra, the United States Navy deployed aircraft carrier groups in the disputed Gulf of Sidra in the Mediterranean Sea. Libya claimed that the entire Gulf was their territory, at 32° 30' N, with an exclusive fishing zone. Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi asserted this...
near Muammar al-Gaddafi's so-called "Line of Death." That evolution ended on the 28th, and the frigate followed it up with port visits to the Sicilian ports Taormina
Taormina
Taormina is a comune and small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Messina, about midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a very popular tourist destination since the 19th century...
and Catania. She then conducted ASW operations south of Malta until 13 April when she rejoined America
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
bombers to strike targets in Libya in retaliation for apparent Libyan involvement in terrorist attacks carried out against United States' citizens.
The latest Libyan interlude ended on 27 April and, after another port call at Taormina, the frigate resumed more conventional 6th Fleet activities. In the ensuing weeks, she took part in two major exercises, and her crew enjoyed liberty in a number of ports. Aylwin completed turnover formalities at Tangier, Morocco, once again and got underway for the United States on 31 August. The warship reentered Charleston on 10 September. Except for two brief periods underway in December, she spent the rest of 1986 in port. As of the beginning of 1987, Aylwin was at Charleston.
In 1988, Aylwin steamed north to her new homeport of Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
. After a shakedown cruise at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Aylwin deployed on another Mediterranean Cruise in 1989 with port visits to Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena, Spain
Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...
; Alicante, Spain; Theoule-sur-Mer, France; Marseille, France; Naples, Italy; and Haifa, Israel. She returned to Newport, on 10 November 1988.