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Hull Number: FFG-28

Launch Date: 01/16/1980

Commissioned Date: 05/29/1982

Decommissioned Date: 02/23/2012

Call Sign: NBON

Voice Call Sign: COMANCHE TRACE


Class: OLIVER HAZARD PERRY

OLIVER HAZARD PERRY Class


Length Overall: 445'

Beam: 45'

Draft: 24' 6"

Armament:

1-3″ 1-Standard-SAM Harpoon-SSM 6-12.75″T LAMPS

Complement:

180

Propulsion:

40,000 SHP, 2 G. E. LM-2500 gas turbines, 1 screw

Highest speed on trials: 28.5 knots

Namesake: JOEL THOMPSON BOONE

JOEL THOMPSON BOONE

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

Joel Thompson Boone (August 29, 1889 – April 2, 1974) was a United States Navy officer who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War I.[1]

In addition to the Medal of Honor, Boone received the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross and was awarded the Silver Star six times. These awards made Boone the most highly decorated medical officer in the history of the United States armed services.[citation needed]

Boone was born in St. Clair, Pennsylvania, on August 29, 1889. He was a cousin several times removed to Daniel Boone. He attended Mercersburg Academy and graduated in June 1913 from Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia. The following year he was commissioned a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Naval Reserve.

After attending the U.S. Naval Medical School in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1915, he was commissioned in the Regular Navy and assigned to Marine artillery battalion of the Marine Expeditionary Force in Haiti until 1916.

When the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, Boone was transferred to the battleship USS Wyoming and was promoted to lieutenant in June of the same year. He later served as a surgeon with the 6th Marine Regiment, which was part of the Army’s 2nd Division while it was part of the American Expeditionary Force in France. On July 19, 1918, he displayed extraordinary heroism while treating casualties under fire. For this action he was later awarded the Medal of Honor.

He was promoted to lieutenant commander in September 1918.

Boone remained in the Navy after the First World War and also served during the Second World War and the Korean War. He was one of the few individuals to have served in all three conflicts.

After returning from France he was assigned to serve as the director of the Bureau of Naval Affairs at the headquarters of the American Red Cross in Washington, D.C. In June 1922 he was assigned to the Presidential yacht USS Mayflower and served in that capacity during the administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge.

When President Herbert Hoover took office in March 1929, Boone was assigned as the physician to the White House. He invented a game called Hooverball to help President Hoover keep in shape. He continued in the position when Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933. He was promoted to commander in September 1931 and to captain in July 1939.

In late 1940, Captain Boone became the senior medical officer at Naval Air Station San Diego and later transferred to the Naval Hospital in Seattle, as medical officer-in-command.

In April 1945, Boone was promoted to commodore and ordered as Fleet Medical Officer to the commander of the Third Fleet, Admiral William F. Halsey. For his service in the Pacific Theater, Boone was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, the Navy Commendation Ribbon and two battle stars.

He was promoted to the rank of rear admiral on January 8, 1946, and was reassigned as District Medical Officer, Eleventh Naval District at San Diego.

In March 1950, he became the Inspector General of the Navy Medical Department. He went to Korea in 1950 – shortly before his retirement for physical disability in December 1950.

Upon his retirement from the Navy, Boone was promoted to the rank of vice admiral on the retired list in recognition of his distinguished career, and was appointed[2] to serve as medical director of the United States Department for Veterans Affairs.[3]

Vice Admiral Boone died April 2, 1974, in Washington, D.C., and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia. His wife Helen Elizabeth (1889–1977) is buried with him.[4]

Medal of Honor Citation

Rank and organization: Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Navy. Place and date: Vicinity Vierzy, France, 19 July 1918. Entered service at: St. Clair, Pa. Born: 2 August 1889, St. Clair, Pa.

Citation:

For extraordinary heroism, conspicuous gallantry, and intrepidity while serving with the 6th Regiment, U.S. Marines, in actual conflict with the enemy. With absolute disregard for personal safety, ever conscious and mindful of the suffering fallen, Surg. Boone, leaving the shelter of a ravine, went forward onto the open field where there was no protection and despite the extreme enemy fire of all calibers, through a heavy mist of gas, applied dressings and first aid to wounded marines. This occurred southeast of Vierzy, near the cemetery, and on the road south from that town. When the dressings and supplies had been exhausted, he went through a heavy barrage of large-caliber shells, both high explosive and gas, to replenish these supplies, returning quickly with a sidecar load, and administered them in saving the lives of the wounded. A second trip, under the same conditions and for the same purpose, was made by Surg. Boone later that day.[1]

Distinquished Service Cross

Citation:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Joel Thompson Boone, Lieutenant (Medical Corps), U.S. Navy, for extraordinary heroism in action in the Bois-de-Belleau, France, June 9–10 and 25, 1918. On two successive days the regimental aid station in which he was working was struck by heavy shells and in each case demolished. Ten men were killed and a number of wounded were badly hurt by falling timbers and stone. Under these harassing conditions this officer continued without cessation his treatment of the wounded, superintending their evacuation, and setting an inspiring example of heroism to the officers and men serving under him. On June 25, 1918, Surgeon Boone followed the attack by one battalion against enemy machine-gun positions in the Bois-de-Belleau, establishing advanced dressing stations under continuous shell fire. General Orders No. No. 137, W.D., 1918



USS BOONE FFG-28 Ship History

Wikipedia (as of 2024)

USS Boone (FFG-28) was the twentieth ship in the United States Navy‘s Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided missile frigates.

The frigate was named for Vice Admiral Joel Thompson Boone, M.D. (1889–1974). FFG-28, the first U.S. ship to bear the admiral’s name, was ordered 23 January 1978, launched 16 January 1980 by Todd Pacific Shipyards, and commissioned 15 May 1982. She has since earned numerous awards and commendations.[citation needed]

On 30 November 2006, the rudder fell off Mayport-based frigate Boone while on deployment in the western Mediterranean. The mishap forced the ship to send out a call for help to which Canadian destroyer HMCS Iroquois responded, providing divers who inspected the ship’s underside. Within 24 hours, Boone was being towed to Rota for repairs by the German Navy’s replenishment oiler Spessart. The ship was not adrift or totally dead in the water because its two 350-horsepower auxiliary propulsion units provided a “limited amount of maneuverability.” The lost rudder was replaced 27 December and, after a day of operational testing, Boone got underway again on 28 December.[1]

Boone was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 14 and was the recipient of the 2005 DESRON 14 Battle “E”. On 16 February 2007, she was awarded the 2006 Battle “E” award.[2]

Boone was homeported in Mayport, Florida, and was a member of the Navy Reserve. In March 2010, she was assigned to the United States Fifth Fleet fighting Somali piracy.[citation needed]

Boone was decommissioned on 23 February 2012.

On 18 August 2022, Boone was towed to CampbeltownScotland to be sunk as part of a SINKEX involving Harpoon missiles fired by the Royal Navy Type 23 frigate HMS Westminster, to test a new US targeting satellite.[3] The SINKEX took place on 7 September 2022 with the participation of both US and UK forces. From the sea, she was struck by two Harpoon anti-ship missiles fired by HMS Westminster and an SM-6 from USS Arleigh Burke. Meanwhile, from the air, she was struck by two Paveway IV laser-guided bombs from Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters, two JDAMs from US Air Force F-15 Eagles, a Martlet missile from Westminster’s Wildcat helicopter and a Harpoon anti-ship missile from a US Navy P-8 Poseidon.[4][5]