USS Hoel (DDG-13)
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| Career | 
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| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 3 August 1959 |
| Launched: | 4 August 1960 |
| Commissioned: | 16 June 1962 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 October 1990 |
| Fate: | |
| Struck: | 20 November 1992 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,370 tons standard, 4,500 tons full load |
| Length: | 437 feet (133 m) |
| Beam: | |
| Draught: | |
| Propulsion: | Geared steam turbines, 2 propeller shafts - 70,000 shaft horsepower (52 MW) |
| Speed: | 33 knots (61 km/h) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 24 officers, 330 enlisted men |
| Armament: | 1 aft twin TARTAR surface-to-air missile launcher; 1 fore and 1 aft 5 in (127 mm), 54 caliber, single-mount rapid-fire gun (Mark 45); 1 port and 1 starboard MK 32 triple torpedo tubes; 1 amidships eight-tube ASROC launcher |
| Aircraft: | |
| Motto: | |
USS Hoel (DDG-13), named for Lieutenant Commander William R. Hoel USN (1825-1865), was a Charles F. Adams class guided missile armed destroyer laid down by Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, on 3 August 1959, launched on 4 August 1960 by Mrs. Harry H. Long, granddaughter of Lieutenant Commander Hoel and commissioned on 16 June 1962. Hoel served as plane guard for Aircraft carriers on Yankee Station in the Tonkin Gulf, participated in Sea Dragon operations, patrolled on Search and rescue duties and carried out Naval Gunfire Support missions during the conflict in Vietnam. Hoel was decommissioned on 1 October 1990, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 November 1992 and sold on 20 June 1994.
The Hoel was one of seven decommissioned US naval vessels purchased by Charleston Shipbuilders Inc. (CSI) in 1994. The corporation planned to use the ships' power plants to generate electricity which they would then sell commercially. In theory, each ship would be able to generate approximately fifty megawatts of electricity, enough to supply approximately 150,000 households.
The city of Manaus, Brazil had rapidly expanded since it was declared a tax-free zone by the Brazilian government in 1967. Eletronorte, the local power utility service, had been unable to keep up with the increasing demand and Manaus experienced frequent Black-outs. In 1997, CSI negotiated a thirty million dollar contract to supply power to Manaus.
The Hoel was chosen as the ship to be used. However, both companies made too optimistic plans. Eletronorte announced that Hoel would be delivering power within only a few days of its arrival in Manaus. CSI had failed to test the ship's equipment fully before departing for Brazil and failed to appreciate how many repairs the ship's thirty eight year old power plant might require. The ship ended up needing weeks of work after its arrival in Brazil before it could begin generating power and numerous repairs after that. Repairs were much more difficult to accomplish in Brazil because the parts and technicians now had to be brought in from CSI's headquarters back in the United States. Meanwhile, many people in Manaus had become angry over the failed power delivery and there were violent protests. Hoel was never able to generate more than a quarter of the electricity that had been promised and that only periodically. After a year of failed attempts, Eletronorte cancelled its contract with CSI.
See USS Hoel for other ships of the same name.
References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
External links
- history.navy.mil: USS Hoel (http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/h7/hoel-ii.htm)
- navsource.org: USS Hoel (http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/01013.htm)
- hazegray.org: USS Hoel (http://hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/ddg13.htm)