Ship Specifications
Length 453′ft
Draft 14′-6″ft
Ship Type Oliver Hazard Perry Class Guided Missile Frigate
Commissioned / Delivered October 1, 1982
Launched October 17, 1981
Owner United States Navy
On Oct. 17, 1981, BIW launched the frigate Aubrey Fitch (FFG 34), one of three frigates launched that year. The keel had been laid in April of the same year. In 1986, FFG 34 was training in the Bahamas when the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated after launch. FFG 34 rushed to the scene and recovered several tons of debris from the shuttle that was later used in the investigation into the tragedy.
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Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, Bath Iron Works began a busy program of US Naval construction. BIW was the lead yard for the Oliver Hazard Perry class of…
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