USS Garcia (FF-1040)

USS Garcia
History
United States
Name:	USS Garcia (FF-1040)
Awarded:	22 June 1961
Builder:	Bethlehem Steel (San Francisco, California)
Laid down:	16 October 1962
Launched:	31 October 1963
Sponsored by:	Daisy Garcia de Alvarez
Acquired:	3 December 1964
Commissioned:	DE-1040 December 21, 1964
Decommissioned:	31 January 1989
Out of service:	1989
Reclassified:	FF-1040 June 30, 1975*
Struck:	31 January 1989
Homeport:	Charleston, South Carolina
Nickname(s):	Greasy-G
Fate:	Scrapped 29 March 1994
Pakistan
Acquired:	31 January 1989
Out of service:	1994
Renamed:	Siaf (F-264)
General characteristics
Class & type:	Garcia class frigate (Formerly destroyer escort)
Displacement:	2,624 tons (light)
Length:	414 ft 6 in (126.34 m)
Beam:	44 ft 1 in (13.44 m)
Draught:	24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Propulsion:	2 Foster-Wheeler boilers, 1 Westinghouse turbine, 35,000 shp, single screw
Speed:	27 knots
Complement:	16 officers 231 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-40 air search radar AN/SPS-10 surface search radar AN/SQS-26 bow mounted sonar
Armament:	2 × 5"/38 Mk 30(2x1) 1 8-tube ASROC Mk16 launcher (16 missiles) 6 × 12.75 in (324mm) Mk 32 (2x3) torpedo tubes, Mk 46 torpedoes 2 × MK 37 torpedo tubes (fixed, stern) (removed later)
Aircraft carried:	1 x SH-2F Seasprite LAMPS I

USS Garcia (FF-1040) was the lead ship of her class of destroyer escort ships, later reclassified as frigates, in the United States Navy. She was named for U.S. Marine Private First Class Fernando Luis Garcia,The First Puerto Rican Medal of Honor Recipient.

Laid down on 16 October 1962 by Bethlehem Steel of San Francisco, California, Garcia was launched on 31 October 1963 and commissioned on 21 December 1964. Originally designated DE-1040, she was redesignated FF-1040 in 1975 as part of the Navy's 1975 ship reclassification.

She served in the Atlantic Fleet and was homeported in Charleston, South Carolina.

Following her decommissioning on 31 January 1989, she was transferred to Pakistan on the same day. Renamed Saif, she was returned to the United States on 13 January 1994 and was then sold for scrap on 29 March 1994.

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

	Navy Unit Commendation (with one star)
	Navy "E" Ribbon
	Navy Expeditionary Medal
	National Defense Service Medal
	Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal

References

• K. Jack Bauer and Stephen S. Roberts, “Register of Ships of the U. S. Navy, 1775-1990,” p.243.
• Naval Institute “Proceedings,” May 1995, pp.219, 220.
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

External links

• USS Garcia on NavSource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive
• Photo of Garcia