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USS Schofield FFG 3
The Ships Mission

USS SCHOFIELD was the third of a new class of U.S. Navy combatant ships, the guided Missile Ocean Escort. Commissioned on May 11, 1968, she was the first ship of the Navy to bear the name of Admiral Frank H. Schofield, USN.

Designed for the primary purpose of combating enemy submarines, SCHOFIELD would be employed defensively as an escort ship or offensively as a member of Submarine Hunter-Killer force. To enable her to preform her missions effectively, she was equipped with the most sophisticated weapons systems of the Navy's ASW arsenal including a long range bow-mounted Sonar, ASROC, and acoustic-homing torpedoes. SCHOFIELD also carried a Tartar Surface-to-Air missile system and a 5"/38 caliber semi-automatic dual purpose gun mount.

SCHOFIELD was fitted with the Navy's newest fossil fueled power plant. Two vertically pressured fired steam generators equipped with gas turbine driven superchargers and automatic combustion control systems burn clean distilled fuel. Superheated steam at a pressure of 1200 psi issued to drive the ship's main propulsion turbine and two 500 kw turbo-electric generators. Two diesel driven generators produced an additional 1000 kw of electric power.

SCHOFIELD was one of few modern Navy ships to be equipped with an automatically activated fin stabilizer system. This system greatly reduced the rough ride characteristics of previous destroyer type ships. A 120-ton air conditioning plant was provided to cool the ships electronic systems and enable her 250 officers and men to live and work in a comfortable environment.

A truly modern ship for the time, SCHOFIELD was designed to meet the challenge of any enemy under, on, or above the sea. A part of the Cruiser Destroyer Force of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, SCHOFIELD was homeported in San Diego, California as a unit of Destroyer Squadron Twenty-Three, The Little Beavers.

FINAL UPDATE:(12/99) Schofield SINKEX