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Navsource Online: Destroyer Escort Photo Archive

Ship's patches courtesy of Mike Smolinski

USS Roark (DE-1053)

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - O - U - R

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Combat Action Ribbon - Navy Battle "E" Ribbon (6)
Second Row: Navy Expeditionary Medal - National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star - Vietnam Service Medal w/ 3 stars
Third Row: Humanitarian Service Ribbon - Sea Service Deployment Ribbon - Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

Class: Knox (As Built)      FY / SCB No.: 64/199C
Displacement: 3020 tons (std), 4065 tons (full)    Dimensions: 438'(oa), 415" (wl) x 46' 9" x 24' 9"
Armament: 1 x 5"/54 Mk 42, 1 ASROC Mk16 (16 missiles), 4-324mm Mk 32 (4x1 fixed) tubes / Mk 46 torpedos
Machinery: 2 CE 1200psi boilers; 1 Westinghouse geared turbine; 35,000 shp; 1 shaft
Speed: 27 knots    Range: 4,500 nm @ 20 knots    Crew: 13 / 211
Radars: AN/SPS-10 (surface), AN/SPS-40 (air), AN/SPS-58 threat warning in some ships
Sonars: AN/SQS-26CX, AN/SQS-35 IVDS in FF-1052, 1056, 1063-1071, 1073-1076, 1078-1097

Operational and Building Data
Laid down by Todd Shipbuilding, Seattle WA 2 February 1966
Launched 27 April 1967, Commissioned 22 November 1969
Reclassified Frigate (FF-1053) on 30 June 1975
Assigned to Naval Reserve Force, Pacific, at San Francisco CA 1 June 1987
Decommissioned 14 December 1991, Stricken 11 January 1995

Fate: Contract for scrapping awarded 13 October 2004 to
International Shipbreaking Corp., Brownsville TX

Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
6k	William Marshall Roark was born on 23 October 1943 at Sioux City, Iowa. Appointed to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1956, he graduated and was commissioned ensign on 8 June 1960 and advanced to the rank of lieutenant, 1 June 1964. He attended the naval flight school at Pensacola, Fla., and Corpus Christi, Tex., and subsequently reported for duty in Attack Squadron 153 on board Coral Sea (CVA-43). Lieutenant Roark was killed in action 7 April 1965 while on a bombing mission over North Vietnam. USS *Roark* (DE-1053) was the first ship to be named in his honor, and the first ship to be named for someone lost in the Vietnam War. (Photo from the site: U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1960)	Bill Gonyo
45k	undated, broadside view of the Knox class ship, USS *Roark* (FF-1053), clearly showing her stern mounted missile system.	-
160k	undated	Cdr P. N. Leenhouts, USN
83k	late 1970's: at Sydney Harbor, Australia	© Barry A Seward Melbourne, Australia
81k	14 September 1990: At sea - A port bow view of *Roark* underway. (Note date of photo. Date has to be incorrect since the hull upgrade isn't done yet.)(US Navy photo DVID #DN-ST-90-11614 by PHAN Burgess from the Defense Visual Information Center )	Navsource
91k	undated	-
143k	12 May 1981: At sea - A port bow view of *Roark* underway en route to Hawaii. (US Navy photo DVID #DN-SC-90-11732 by PH3 Swinland from the DVIC )	Navsource
233k	15 June 1982: NavSta, Subic Bay, Luzon PI - An aerial view of the US Naval Ship Repair Facility. Berthed at the shipyard are the Knox-class frigates *Roark* and USS *Harold E. Holt* (FF-1074). Moored alongside them is the guided missile frigate USS *Brooke* (FFG-1). (US Navy photo DVID #DN-SN-84-06232 by PH1 David McLean from the DVIC )	Navsource
37k	1996: Naval Inactive ship Maintence Facility, Bremerton WA - *Roark* in reserve, nested with *Francis Hammond* (FF-1067), *Knox* (FF-1052) and *Hepburn* (FF-1055) alongside.	© James H. Hopper III, Cdr, USN (ret.)
27k	11 February 2004: *Roark* passing San Padre Island TX on the way to International Shipbreaking (from the website of International Shipbreaking Corp., Brownsville TX)	Tom Bateman
110k	19 February 2004: Brownsville TX - *Roark* awaits the cutting torches at the shipbreakers in the Port of Brownsville. (Photo from Pinemikey's Pbase Galleries )	© Michael Martin
183k	William M. Roark's place on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. Panel 1E Line 107. Panel 1E is right where the memorial bends.	Steve Dietrich

View the USS Roark (DE-1053), DANFS history entry
located on the US Naval Historical Center web site.

Roark's Commanding Officers
Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Ron Reeves

22 Nov 1969 - Nov 1970		Cmdr. Wayne L. Beech
Nov 1970 - May 1972		Cmdr. Arthur Stanley Moreau Jr. (later Vadm.)
May 1972 - Nov 1972		Cmdr. Robert J. Kerrigan
Nov 1972 - May 1974		Lcdr. Griffin Freeman Hamilton
May 1974 - May 1976		Lcdr. Paul Davis Moses (later Radm.)
May 1976 - May 1978		Cmdr. Jack Lane Weston
May 1978 - Mar 1981		Cmdr. Thomas Edward Ferguson
Mar 1981 - Oct 1982		Cmdr. Frederick Gilbert Kleyn III
Oct 1982 - Feb 1985		Cmdr. Hugh Leonard Webb
Feb 1985 - May 1987		Cmdr. Jeffrey R. Beinbrink
May 1987 - Feb 1990		Cmdr. Warren E. Small
Feb 1990 - 14 Dec 1991		Cmdr. Steven Earl Pilnick

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

None

Note About Contacts

Contact information is compiled from various sources over a period of time and may, or may not, be correct. Every effort has been
made to list the newest contact. However, our entry is only as good as the latest information that's been sent to us. We list only
a contact for the ship if one has been sent to us. We do NOT have crew lists or rosters available. Please see the Frequently Asked
Questions section on Navsource's Main Page for that information.

Additional Resources

Destroyer Escort Sailors Association
USS Roark Page on Destroyers Online
USS Roark Page on Military.Com
USS Roark Page on Navysite

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Page Last Updated 18 December 2008