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Photo # USN 1114711:  USS Frank Knox aground on Pratas Reef, South China Sea, in July 1965

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Frank Knox (DDR-742), 1944-1971 --
Grounding and Salvage, July-August 1965

In the early hours of 18 July 1965, while underway at sixteen knots in the South China Sea, USS Frank Knox ran hard aground on Pratas Reef, some two hundred miles east south east of Hong Kong. A salvage effort was immediately begun, and soon involved salvage ships Grapple and Conserver, tugs Munsee, Cocopa and Sioux and submarine rescue ship Greenlet. Though Frank Knox was initially only somewhat damaged, several attempts to pull her free between 20 July and 2 August were unsuccessful, and the ship was driven further onto the rocks by waves from a pair of passing typhoons. She was now much more severely holed, with machinery spaces flooded and hull structure weakened.

When conventional hole patching and water removal methods proved inadequate, plastic foam was employed to fill flooded compartments, thus expelling the water and greatly enhancing Frank Knox' bouyancy. Her hull was reinforced by welding stiffeners to the main deck. Explosives were used to break up coral around the ship, but these also produced further damage, which led to a need for more foam. Another pulling effort took place on 11 August, with a ship steaming by offshore making waves to help break the reef's grip on the grounded destroyer, but this also failed.

Salvage tackle was re-rigged, more weights were removed from Frank Knox, pontoons were attached to her hull, additional foam was generated and the destroyer Cogswell arrived to make waves as required. A pull on 22 August produced some favorable movement and, on 24 August, USS Frank Knox was finally afloat, after nearly six weeks of salvage work in a very difficult environment. Repaired in Japan, she gave the U.S. Navy another six years of service, followed by two decades as a part of the Greek Navy.

This page features all the views we have concerning the 1965 stranding and salvage of USS Frank Knox (DDR-742).

For other pictures of, and related to, this ship, see:

  • USS Frank Knox (DD-742, later DDR-742 and DD-742), 1944-1971.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: USN 1114711

    USS Frank Knox
    (DDR-742)

    Aground on Pratas Reef, in the South China Sea, July 1965.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

    Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1114711.

     
    Photo #: USN 1113134

    USS Frank Knox
    (DDR-742)

    Aground on Pratas Reef, South China Sea, in July 1965. A H-34 type helicopter is hovering over her bow to evacuate crewmen. This was the only safe method of transportation two and from the stranded ship during the rough seas that persisted during most of the several weeks of salvage operations that finally freed Frank Knox.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph.

    Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 610 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-N-1113134.

     
    Photo #: NH 74179

    USS Frank Knox
    (DDR-742)

    Aground on Pratas Reef, South China Sea, with several ships attempting to pull her off. She went aground on 18 July 1965. This view was probably taken at about the time she was finally refloated on 24 August 1965. Ships pulling are (from left to right): Grapple (ARS-7), Conserver (ARS-39), Sious (ATF-75), Greenlet (ASR-10) and Cocopa (ATF-101).

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 119KB; 740 x 535 pixels

     


    For other pictures of, and related to, this ship, see:

  • USS Frank Knox (DD-742, later DDR-742 and DD-742), 1944-1971.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 27 December 2003