USS Sirocco
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=USS Sirocco (PC-6).jpg |Ship caption=USS Sirocco }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag}} |Ship name=Sirocco |Ship namesake= Sirocco |Ship ordered=3 August 1990 |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, Louisiana |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=20 June 1992 |Ship launched=29 May 1993 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired=11 March 1994 |Ship commissioned=11 June 1994 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=20 March 2023 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport=Manama, Bahrain |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship status=Decommissioned |Ship fate= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= 100px }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass|Cyclone|patrol ship}} |Ship tonnage= |Ship displacement=331 tons |Ship length={{convert|174|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|25|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught={{convert|7.5|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion= |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed={{convert|35|kn}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=4 officers, 24 men, 8 Special Forces |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*(USN) 2 Mk38 chain guns
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Sirocco (PC-6) is the sixth {{sclass|Cyclone|patrol ship}} of the U.S. Navy. Sirocco was laid down 20 June 1992 by Bollinger Shipyards in Lockport, Louisiana. The ship was launched 29 May 1993, and sponsored by Mrs. Kathleen Smith, wife of RADM Raymond C. Smith, Commander, Naval Special Warfare Command. She was commissioned by the Navy 11 June 1994. As of 2016, the ship was stationed in Bahrain performing coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance in the region. She was decommissioned on 20 March 2023.{{cite web |url= http://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/pc6/Pages/About.aspx |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160408124507/http://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/pc6/Pages/About.aspx |url-status= dead |archive-date= April 8, 2016 |title= About |publisher= USS Sirocco |access-date= 4 April 2016 }}{{cite DANFS |url= http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/sirocco--pc-6-.html |title= Sirocco }}
History
Sirocco is assigned to Commander Fifth Fleet through Destroyer Squadron 50 and is homeported in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain. Seven Patrol Coastal class (PC) warships are forward deployed to the Fifth Fleet. PC ships were formerly crewed by one of 13 rotational PC crews and homeported in Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Virginia.
There, under the auspices of Commander, Patrol Coastal Squadron One/Commander, Patrol Coastal (PC) Class Squadron the crews trained on five U.S. based PC hulls prior to completing a six-month deployment to the Fifth fleet. PC ships such as Sirocco complete a variety of missions that has expanded since the transfer of the ships and associated support structures in naval surface warfare. As of 2009, PC ships deployed in Bahrain primarily conducted maritime security operations in the Persian Gulf with a concentration towards anti-piracy.{{citation needed|date=April 2016|reason=Entire paragraph needs citation}}
In 2009, Sirocco completed phase one of a modernization program to extend the useful lives of the ships. Upgrades included new computer systems and satellite communications, as well as upgraded air conditioning systems and a Rafael Typhoon MK38 MOD II gun weapons system replacing the previously fitted MK96 mount.
On 28 March 2016, Sirocco seized a stateless dhow in the Arabian sea. A boarding party had been dispatched to inspect the suspicious vessel and discovered it had been transporting 1,500 AK-47 assault rifles, 200 RPG launchers, and 21 .50 caliber machine guns. After receiving reports from Sirocco, the destroyer {{USS|Gravely|DDG-107|6}} also arrived on the scene to assist. After the weapons were seized and offloaded, the dhow and its crew were released.{{cite news |url= https://news.usni.org/2016/04/04/u-s-navy-seizes-suspected-iranian-arms-shipment-bound-for-yemen |title= U.S. Navy Seizes Suspected Iranian Arms Shipment Bound for Yemen |first= Sam |last= LaGrone |publisher= US Naval Institute |date= 4 April 2016 }}
On 19 June 2022, Sirocco was involved in a confrontation with patrol craft of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Navy claimed that the Iranian vessels approached Sirocco and the expeditionary fast transport {{USNS|Choctaw County|T-EPF-2}} at "unsafe and unprofessional" speeds and "aggressively" sailed to within 50 yards of the American vessels. Sirocco issued warnings over her loudspeaker system and fired a warning flare, and the Iranian vessels departed within an hour without further interactions.{{cite news |url= https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/navy-patrol-ship-had-hostile-encounter-with-iranian-boats-in-strait-of-hormuz |title= Navy Patrol Ship Had Hostile Encounter With Iranian Boats In Strait Of Hormuz |first= Howard |last= Altman |publisher= The Drive |date= 21 June 2022 }}
Sirocco was decommissioned on 20 March 2023.
Further reading
- {{cite news |url= http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=18648 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160505102729/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=18648 |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 5, 2016 |title= Sirocco Continues Maritime Security Operations with New Crew NNS050606-04 |publisher= Navy News |first= Paul |last= Cage |date= 6 June 2005 }}
- {{cite news |url= http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=55810 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160505150836/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=55810 |url-status= dead |archive-date= May 5, 2016 |title= Sirocco Responds To Medical Emergency NNS100907-07 |publisher= Navy News |date= 7 September 2010 }}
References
- {{Naval Vessel Register|{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=PC6}}}}
- {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/sirocco--pc-6-.html}}
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|USS Sirocco (PC-6)}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20160407152614/http://www.public.navy.mil/surflant/pc6/Pages/default.aspx Sirocco home page]
- [http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/pc-1.htm FAS]
{{Cyclone class patrol coastal ship}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirocco (PC-6)}}
Category:Cyclone-class patrol ships