USS Frank Cable (AS-40)

Frank Cable in Hong Kong, October 2006
Career
Name:	USS Frank Cable
Namesake:	Frank Cable
Awarded:	20 November 1974
Builder:	Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company, Seattle, Washington
Laid down:	2 March 1976
Launched:	14 January 1978
Commissioned:	29 October 1979
Homeport:	Apra Harbor, Guam
Motto:	The Warship that fixes Warships
Nickname:	Building 40
Honours and awards:	7 × Meritorious Unit Commendations 9 × Battle Effectiveness Awards Humanitarian Service Medal
Status:	in active service, as of 2024
Badge:
General characteristics
Class & type:	Emory S. Land-class submarine tender
Tonnage:	9,068 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Displacement:	13,758 long tons (13,979 t) light 22,826 long tons (23,192 t) full load
Length:	649 ft (198 m)
Beam:	85 ft (26 m)
Draft:	26–29 ft (7.9–8.8 m)
Propulsion:	2 × boilers Steam turbine 1 shaft 20,000 shp (14,914 kW)
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement:	81 officers, 1,270 enlisted
Armament:	• 2 × 40 mm AA guns • 4 × 25 mm AA guns

USS Frank Cable (AS-40) is the second Emory S. Land-class submarine tender built by the Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company of Seattle, Washington for the United States Navy.

The ship was christened on 14 January 1978 by Mrs. Rose A. Michaelis, wife of Admiral F. H. Michaelis, then Chief of Naval Material. The ship is named for Frank Cable, an electrical engineer who had worked as an electrician and trial captain for the USS Holland (SS-1).

Service history

USS Frank Cable was designed as a submarine tender for Los Angeles-class submarines. The ship spent 1980 until 1996 as the repair ship for SUBRON 4 and 18 in Charleston, South Carolina, tending Sturgeon and Benjamin Franklin-class submarines. Frank Cable began decommissioning in 1996, but then was reactivated and refitted to replace the USS Holland (AS-32) in the Western Pacific as Commander Seventh Fleet's mobile repair and support platform.

USS Frank Cable (AS-40) in her home port, Apra Harbor, Guam

Since arriving in Guam, USS Frank Cable has visited many Western Pacific ports in support of U.S. forces. In 1997, the ship was heavily involved with the rescue and recovery efforts following the Korean Air Flight 801 crash on Guam, and also in the recovery and clean-up efforts following Typhoon Paka. From 1980 to 2003, USS Frank Cable garnered many awards as a unit of both the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, including seven Meritorious Unit Commendations, nine Battle Efficiency "E" awards and three Golden Anchor Awards. Frank Cable’s most recent recognition was a Humanitarian Service Medal for support provided in recovery efforts on Guam following Super Typhoon Pongsona in 2002.

Accidents

On 1 December (Guam time), 2006, a steam line ruptured aboard USS Frank Cable. Two sailors were killed and seven others injured.

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain.

External links

• USS Frank Cable Navy site
• navsource.org: USS Frank Cable
• Cable worked as an electrician for John Holland's company at Crescent Shipyards.