This movie was made from pictures taken in July 2014 At the Inciralti Sea Museum in Izmir, Turkey. These pictures are of the the former USS Ainsworth FF-1090
Yep, good memories. I served aboard the USS Ainsworth from Nov. 1981 to Mar. 1985, as an electronic tech. Did one deployment in 1983, visiting The Maldives, Mombasa in Kenya, and other spots in the Med and IO. Mostly sailed the Atlantic and Caribbean. I am glad she became a museum ship instead of being scrapped or sunk as a training target! She was renamed TCG EGE by the Turks, serving many years with them before being retired.
I served aboard USS Truett FF-1095 from 1987-1989 and the USS Brewton FF-1086 from 1989-1991. It's great to see at least one of these tin cans was saved as a museum ship.
Met the ship in Bahrain (Clipper flight - New York to London to Paris to Frankfurt to Bahrain (what was the Navy thinking) in Jan '80 as a Quartermaster 2nd class when she came in to pick up food at anchor. My orders said this billet was "arduous duty". Oh yes, as they say 'haze gray and underway". Ainsworth did 84 days at sea and only did sea replenishment underway or at anchor in the Persian Gulf during the Iran Hostage Crisis. I only had to do about 65-70 of those. Cruised up and down the Persian Gulf and in the Indian Ocean and south of the Straits of Hormuz off the coast of Oman for weeks. We monitored ship traffic and keep an eye out for Soviet vessels of which there were plenty of in those days (cold war) in the Gulf area. Left the ship in Copenhagen, Denmark in Sept '80. Flew in and flew out like I was in the Air Force. Looks pretty much the same as when I was on board. The launcher could throw a ASROC out several miles in a few seconds. And the 5 inch gun could hit a flying target at 15,000 feet. Was a decent warship except had a curious flaw. If you did too abrupt a turn at high speed it would flood out its burners in the boilers and the ship would be dead in the water. Ouch. But it did its job in that it could make submarines very nervous.
Thanks for the memories, I served as a Damage Controlman on her and was one of the decommissioning crew. Came aboard when she was at Red Hook ship yards and then home ported in Staten Island. Then transferred to Northfolk Virginia to do the turn over to the Turkish crew.
