US Navy ship that was recently (
October 12th, 2000)
bombed during a fueling stop in
Yemen. The ship was breeched at the waterline when a lone
terrorist drove a
zodiac style
raft into it's hull and detonated an (at this time) unknown explosive device killing 7, 10 missing (presumed dead) and injuring 32 crew members. The BBC is reporting the "Islamic Deterrence Force" is now claiming responisibility.
Some facts about the USS Cole:
Ships are grouped in classes by
design class. The name of the class & class-leader is USS Arleigh Burke (
DDG-51), but the actual ship is the USS Cole (DDG-67).
DD is the
Navy's designation for a
Destroyer.
DDG is the Navy's designation for a
Guided Missile Destroyer.
Destroyers (and their variants like DDGs) and
frigates are named for Navy & Marine Corps
heros (not necessarily
Congressional Medal of Honor awardees, though). USS Cole is named for
Sergeant Darrell Samuel Cole,
USMCR, who was killed in the line of duty during the battle for
Iwo Jima.
Statistics of the USS Cole:
DIMENSIONS
Hull Length (Overall) 505 Feet
Beam, Max/WL 66/59 Feet
Draft,
Navigation 31 Feet
Displacement 8,300 Tons
Highest Point 148 Feet
Speed 30+
Knots
WEAPONS
One MK 45 MOD 1 5"/54 caliber
Gun Mount
Two MK 41 Vertical Launching Systems
Two
Harpoon Anti-shipping
Missile Quad Canisters
Two MK 15 MOD 12 Close-in-Weapons Systems (
Phalanx Mounts)
Two MK 32 MOD 14 Triple
Torpedo Tubes (MK 50/46 Torpedoes)
SENSORS
AN/SPY-1D 3-D Search/Track Radar
AN/SPS-67(V)3 Surface Search
Radar
AN/SPS-64(V)9 Surface Search Radar
AN/SQS-53C(V) Hull Mounted
Sonar
AN/SQS-19(V) Tactical Towed
Array Sonar System
AN/SQQ-28(V) LAMPS III Shipboard
Electronics
ESM/ECM
AN/SLQ-32(V)3
AN/SLQ-25A NIXIE Torpedo
Countermeasures
Decoy Launching System (6 Launchers)
ENGINEERING
4 LM2500 Marine Gas
Turbine Engines (100,000 SHP)
3 Allison 2500 KW Gas Turbine
Generators
2 Shafts with CRP (Controllable Reversible Pitch)
Propellers
2
Rudders
Commanding
Officer: Commander Kirk S. Lippold
Executive Officer: Lieutenant Commander Chris Peterschmidt
Command Master
Chief: HMCM (Surface Warfare/Air Warfare/Fleet
Marine Force) James G. Parlier
Source: USS Cole homepage http://www.spear.navy.mil/ships/ddg67/ and former navy crewman (and co-worker of mine) Jim DeStael