Editing Knox-class frigate (section)

{{Short description|Class of Anti-Submarine Warfare frigates}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = USS Robert E. Peary (FF-1073) San Francisco.jpg
| Ship caption = ''Knox''-class frigate {{USS|Robert E. Peary|FF-1073}} and the skyline of [[San Francisco]] in the background
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
| Builders = *[[Todd Shipyard]], Seattle and San Pedro
*[[Lockheed Shipbuilding and Construction Company]]
*[[Avondale Shipyard]]
| Operators = *{{naval|United States}}
*{{navy|Republic of China}}
*{{naval|Egypt}}
*{{navy|Greece}}
*{{naval|Mexico}}
*{{naval|Thailand}}
*{{naval|Turkey}}
| Class before = {{sclass|Garcia|frigate|4}} / {{sclass|Brooke|frigate|4}}
| Class after = {{sclass|Oliver Hazard Perry|frigate|4}}
| Subclasses = *{{sclass|Baleares|frigate|4}}
*{{sclass|Allende|frigate|4}}
*{{sclass|Phutthayotfa Chulalok|frigate|4}}
| Built range = 1965–1974
| In commission range = 1969–1994 (USN)
| Total ships building = 
| Total ships planned = 55
| Total ships completed = 46
| Total ships cancelled = 9<ref name="BaR p244">Bauer and Roberts 1991, pp. 244</ref>
| Total ships active = 
| Total ships laid up = 
| Total ships lost = 
| Total ships retired = 46 (USN), some were transferred to other countries where they are in active service
| Total ships preserved = 2
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship type = * [[Ocean escort]] (1964–1975)
* [[Frigate]] (1975–1994)
| Ship displacement = {{cvt|4065|LT|lk=on}} (full load)
| Ship length = {{cvt|438|ft}}
| Ship beam = {{cvt|46|ft|9|in}}
| Ship draught = 
| Ship draft = {{cvt|24|ft|9|in}}
| Ship power = * 2 × {{cvt|1200|psi}} boilers
* {{cvt|35000|shp}}
| Ship propulsion = * 1 × Westinghouse steam turbine
*1 × [[propeller|shaft]]
| Ship speed = {{cvt|27|kn}}
| Ship range = {{cvt|4500|nmi}} at {{cvt|20|kn}}
| Ship complement = 17 officers, 240 enlisted
| Ship sensors = *[[AN/SPS-10]] Surface Search Radar
*[[AN/SPS-40]] Air Search Radar
*[[AN/SPS-67]] Surface Search Radar
*[[AN/SQS-26]] active/passive [[Sonar]]
*[[AN/SQS-35]] active/passive towed [[Sonar]]
*AN/SQR-18 [[Towed array sonar]] system
*[[AN/SPG-53]] Mk68 Gun Fire Control System
| Ship EW = *As Built [[AN/WLR-1C – AN/ULQ-6C and AN/SLA-15 (Comprising AN/SLQ-26 System)]]
*[[SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite|AN/SLQ-32 Electronics Warfare System]] and [[Mark 36 SRBOC]]
| Ship armament = {{Knox class frigate armament}}
| Ship armour = 
| Ship armor = 
| Ship aircraft = * 1 × [[Gyrodyne QH-50 DASH|QH-50]] (DASH) helicopter 
* 1 × [[SH-2 Seasprite]] (LAMPS I) helicopter (refit)
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

The 46 '''''Knox''-class frigates''' were the largest, last, and most numerous of the [[United States Navy|US Navy's]] second-generation [[anti-submarine warfare]] (ASW) escorts. Originally laid down as [[ocean escorts]] (formerly called [[destroyer escort]]s), they were all redesignated as [[frigate]]s on 30 June 1975, in the [[United States Navy 1975 ship reclassification|1975 ship reclassification plan]] and their hull designation changed from 'DE' to 'FF'. The ''Knox'' class was the Navy's last destroyer-type design with a [[steam turbine]] powerplant.

Due to their unequal comparison to [[destroyer]]s then in service (larger size with lower speed and only a single propeller and 5-inch gun), they became known to a generation of destroyermen as "McNamara's Folly", a jab at then-Secretary of the Defense [[Robert McNamara]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/knoxclass.html |title=Knox class |publisher=destroyerhistory.org. |access-date=3 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601185336/http://www.destroyerhistory.org/coldwar/knoxclass.html |archive-date= 1 June 2009 }}</ref>

These ships were retired from the US Navy at the end of the [[Cold War]] due to their relatively high running costs, a declining defense budget, and the need for ships with a more advanced anti-submarine capability. None of the ships served more than 23 years in the US Navy, and by 1994, all of the class had been retired, although some remain in service with foreign nations such as [[list of naval ships of Egypt|Egypt]], [[Taiwan]], [[Thailand]], and [[Mexico]].