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USS MOINESTER was the 46th and final KNOX-class frigate and the first ship in the Navy to bear the name. She was one of the eight ships of her class transfered to the Naval Reserve Force serving as Reserve Training Frigates (FFT). Each of the eight Reserve Training Frigates had its own reserve crew and was also assigned four "nucleus crews" which would man the 32 decommissioned KNOX-class frigates in the case of a reactivation of these ships.
USS MOINESTER (FFT 1097) was last homeported in Norfolk, Va. Decommissioned on July 28, 1994, the MOINESTER was subsequently leased to Egypt where she was recommissioned as RASHEED. Stricken from the Navy list on January 11, 1995, the MOINESTER was finally purchased by Egypt on March 25, 1998.
General Characteristics: | Awarded: August 25, 1966 |
Keel laid: August 25, 1972 | |
Launched: May 12, 1973 | |
Commissioned: November 2, 1974 | |
Decommissioned: July 28, 1994 | |
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 | |
Aircraft: one | |
Crew: 18 officers, 267 enlisted |
Crew List:
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS MOINESTER. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
USS MOINESTER Cruise Books:
About the Ship's Name:
Robert William Moinester was born on 15 July 1943 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Robert and Gertrude Moinester. He entered the United States Naval Reserve on 21 July 1965 following graduation from St. John's University. After completion of training at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, California, Lt(jg) Moinester was assigned to the United States Naval Support Activity, Danang, in the Republic of Vietnam.
On the morning of 31 January 1968, Lt(jg) Moinester was serving as Officer in Charge of the Hue Ramp Detachment. Unaware that the city had been infiltrated by a large number of North Vietnamese Army units during the night, Lt(jg) Moinester and his ramp personnel were enroute to their assigned work areas in Hue when they came under hostile mortar fire. Lt(jg) Moinester organized his men into an infantry platoon and led them in house-to-house clearing operations under intense hostile fire. Observing enemy soldiers in a building to his front, he organized a frontal attack. Although Lt(jg) Moinester was killed during the attack, the enemies were driven from their positions, sustaining heavy casualties. In addition to the Silver Star, Lt(jg) Moinester was posthumously awarded the National Order of Vietnam and Gallantry Cross with Palm from the Republic of Vietnam.
USS MOINESTER Image Gallery:
After decommissioning, the MOINESTER was recommissioned in the Egyptian Navy as RASHEED (966). The photos below were taken by me and show the RASHEED arriving at Naval Base Toulon, France, after participating in exercise Cleopatra 2014 which is a joint exercise of the French and Egyptian Navies. The photos were taken on June 4, 2014.