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USS Vreeland (FF 1068)

- decommissioned -
- formerly DE 1068 -


USS VREELAND was the 17th KNOX-class frigate. Decommissioned on June 30, 1992, ths ship was subsequently leased to Greece. Stricken from the Navy list on January 11, 1995, VREELAND was finally purchased by Greece on February 9, 2001.

General Characteristics:Awarded: July 22, 1964
Keel laid: March 20, 1968
Launched: June 14, 1969
Commissioned: June 13, 1970
Decommissioned: June 30, 1992
Builder: Avondale Shipyards, New Orleans, La.
Propulsion system: 2 - 1200 psi boilers; 1 geared turbine, 1 shaft; 35,000 shaft horsepower
Length: 438 feet (133.5 meters)
Beam: 47 feet (14.4 meters)
Draft: 25 feet (7.6 meters)
Displacement: approx. 4,200 tons full load
Speed: 27 knots
Armament: one Mk-16 missile launcher for ASROC and Harpoon missiles, one Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber gun, Mk-46 torpedoes from single tube launchers, one Mk-25 BPDMS launcher for Sea Sparrow missiles
Aircraft: one SH-2F (LAMPS I) helicopter
Crew: 18 officers, 267 enlisted


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Crew List:

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


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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The heraldic ramifications of the VREELAND's crest are many. The central design is that of the (von) Vreeland family originally from Amsterdam, Holland.

The blazon of the shield which is approriate for the ship and its mission is that of a blue shield representing the oceans, the fess (horizontal bar) that of a convoy, while the three mullets (stars) allude the three major missions of the ship; submarine hunter-killer, convoy escort and surveillance. The stars themselves symbolic of achievement, leadership and wisdom, while the number three in numerology denotes action, power and inspiration. The rampart lion supporting the coat of arms is a heraldic symbol of bravery and forthrightness, and its stalking pose one of deliberate intent. Its mailed fist illustrates the VREELAND's unremitting, iron thrust at the enemy below, while the clasped trident is indicative of nautical supremacy. The centerwork is set against a sea blue field, the natural unfettered element of VREELAND. Contained within is the motto,"QUO FAS ET GLORIA DUCUNT": "WHERE DUTY AND GLORY LEAD".



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About the Ship's Name:

Charles E. Vreeland - born on 10 March 1852 at Newark N.J.-enlisted in the Navy as a naval apprentice early in 1866. After brief service in SABINE, he received a Presidential appointment as a midshipman at the Naval Academy on 27 July 1866. On 7 June 1870, he graduated from the academy as a passed midshipman and, at the end of July, reported on board the newly commissioned screw sloop CALIFORNIA. On 28 September, he was detached from that ship and was ordered to proceed in SEVERN to duty in the screw sloop CONGRESS, then cruising in the South Atlantic. He was later transferred to the screw sloop BROOKLYN and, between 1871 and 1873, made a cruise in her to European waters. In July 1873, he was detached from BROOKLYN. After successfully completing the required post-sea duty examination in October, he returned to sea in November in POWHATAN and, less than a fortnight later, received his commission as an ensign.

Successive tours of duty in ALERT, ASHUELOT, and TICONDEROGA followed; and, during that period, Vreeland received promotions to master and then to lieutenant. In November 1881, after a period ashore awaiting orders, he was posted to the Nautical Almanac Office, where charts and tables were prepared for use by naval officers in celestial navigation. In March 1884, Lt. Vreeland began a three-year tour at sea in HARTFORD, at the completion of which he went to the Bureau of Navigation for a two-year assignment. Upon leaving that duty in mid-April 1889, he took torpedo instruction at Newport, R.I. Then, a brief assignment with the Office of Naval Intelligence from July to September of 1889 preceded his reporting to the Coast Survey late in October. That employment lasted until the spring of 1893 when orders sent Vreeland to Europe as naval attache-first at Rome, then at Vienna, and finally in Berlin.

Lt. Vreeland returned home late in 1896, was posted to MASSACHUSETTS in mid-January 1897, and served in that battleship until transferred to HELENA at the end of June. Vreeland was ordered to DOLPHIN as executive officer in April 1898, but he did not actually assume those duties until 24 August. Thus, he served in HELENA through most of the brief Spanish-American War on blockade duty off Cuba until July. He was detached from DOLPHIN on 6 November 1898 and ordered to OLYMPIA; however, those orders were changed in December, and he reported to CONCORD instead on the 30th. In March 1899, he became Lt. Comdr. Vreeland, and after completing assignments in CONCORD, MONTEREY, and BALTIMORE - all on the Asiatic station - he returned home on board the hospital ship SOLACE in March 1900. In April, he became a member of the Board of Inspection and Survey; and, during that assignment, he was promoted to full commander in mid-August 1901. In August 1902, he took charge of fitting out of the "New Navy" monitor ARKANSAS (later to be renamed OZARK) at Newport News, Va. When she was placed in commission on 28 October, he assumed command.

Two years later, Vreeland left his first command, ARKANSAS, and served ashore over the next two and one-half years, performing various special duties for the Navy Department. Initially, he was a member of and recorder for the board studying proposed changes to the New York Navy Yard. He was next assigned special duty in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy. While assigned to the Navy Department in Washington, Vreeland received his promotion to captain to date from 13 April 1906. Capt. Vreeland concluded that latest assignment in Washington on 17 April 1907 and, the following day, placed KANSAS (BB 21) in commission at Camden, N.J. He commanded the new battleship for the next two years - a very auspicious time for it coincided with the cruise of the "Great White Fleet" around the world. Soon after the Fleet returned to Hampton Roads in February 1909, he relinquished command of KANSAS and returned home to await orders. On 10 May, Capt. Vreeland took over command of the Office of Naval Intelligence. That duty lasted until 8 December 1909 when, with his selection for promotion to rear admiral imminent, he broke his flag in VIRGINIA (BB 13) as Commander, 4th Division, Atlantic Fleet. Nineteen days later, on the 27th, he became Rear Admiral Vreeland.

On 19 April 1911, he reported ashore for further duty in Washington. In his new assignment as Aide for Inspections, he approached the pinnacle of naval command. He became one of the four principal advisors of the Secretary of the Navy, George von L. Meyer, under the newly devised aide system for managing the Navy. During his tenure in that office, Rear Admiral Vreeland represented the Navy Department at the coronation of King George V of England and headed up the so-called "Vreeland Board" which reinvestigated the MAINE disaster of 1898. The controversial report of that board - now considered erroneous - concluded that an external explosion sank the warship.

On 12 December, Rear Admiral Vreeland ended his tour of duty as Aide for Inspections and succeeded Rear Admiral Richard Wainwright as the Secretary's second Aide for Operations. While in that position - the forerunner to today's office of Chief of Naval Operations - Vreeland struggled to improve the defenses in the Philippines, agitated for increased naval construction, particularly of battle cruisers, and supported the development of American naval aviation. During his tenure as Aide for Operations, naval aviation found a permanent home at Pensacola, Fla. On 11 February 1913, Rear Admiral Vreeland relinquished his duties as Aide for Operations to Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske, the third and last man to hold the office under that title. Vreeland finished out his naval career as a member of both the General and Joint Boards. On 10 March 1914, he was transferred to the retired list. On 27 September 1916, after a retirement plagued by illness, Rear Admiral Vreeland died at Atlantic City, N.J.


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