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USS Hoel (DDG 13)

- decommissioned -

USS HOEL was the 12th ship in the CHARLES F. ADAMS - class of guided missile destroyers and the second ship in the Navy to bear the name. Another ship named "Hoel" was a destroyer cancelled during WWII.

USS HOEL was stricken from the Navy list on November 20, 1992, and was sold to Charleston Shipbuilders Inc. for conversion to a power barge on June 20, 1994. In 1997, the ship was towed to Manaus, Brazil, to provide the city with electricity. However, electricity output was too low and the project was stopped again. Today, the hulk of the HOEL is still located at Manaus.

General Characteristics:Awarded: January 17, 1958
Keel laid: August 3, 1959
Launched: August 4, 1960
Commissioned: June 16, 1962
Decommissioned: October 1, 1990
Builder: Defoe Shipbuilding, Bay City, Michigan
Propulsion system:4 - 1200 psi boilers; 2 geared turbines
Propellers: two
Length: 437 feet (133.2 meters)
Beam: 47 feet (14.3 meters)
Draft: 20 feet (6.1 meters)
Displacement: approx. 4,500 tons
Speed: 31+ knots
Aircraft:none
Armament: two Mk 42 5-inch/54 caliber guns, Mk 46 torpedoes from two Mk-32 triple mounts, one Mk 16 ASROC Missile Launcher, one Mk 11 Mod.0 Missile Launcher for Standard (MR) and Harpoon Missiles
Crew: 24 officers and 330 enlisted


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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS HOEL. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.


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USS HOEL Cruise Books:


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About the Ship's Name:

( Click on the picture for a larger version of the photo )

William R. Hoel was born in Ohio on 7 March 1825. A steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River, he joined the Navy in October 1861 and played a very important role on the Western Rivers during the rest of the Civil War. Wounded in action on board the ironclad gunboat CINCINNATI during the battle of Fort Henry on 6 February 1862, he recovered in time to pilot USS CARONDELET past the Confederate fortress on Island Number Ten some two months later.

In May 1862, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Hoel took command of the CINCINNATI while she was under salvage and repair. In October of that year he became Commanding Officer of sister gunboat PITTSBURG, taking her through operations in the vicinity of Vicksburg, Mississippi. On 29 April 1863, he courageously used his ship to protect the flagship BENTON when that vessel was endangered by enemy fire during the bombardment of Grand Gulf, Mississippi. In March-July 1865, Acting Volunteer Lieutenant Commander Hoel commanded the ram VINDICATOR. He left the Navy in December 1865.


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The photo below is an official US Navy photo taken on June 1, 1991. It shows four CHARLES F. ADAMS - class ships laid up at the Pearl Harbor Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility. Visible are (from left to right): HOEL, JOSEPH STRAUSS (DDG 16), HENRY B. WILSON (DDG 7), and COCHRANE (DDG 21).



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