USS MARVIN SHIELDS was the 15th ship in the KNOX - class of frigates and the first ship in the Navy to bear the name. Decommissioned on July 2, 1992, and stricken from the Navy list on January 11, 1995, the MARVIN SHIELD was transferred to Mexico on January 29, 1997. There, she was recommissioned as MARIANO ABASOLO.
|General Characteristics:||Awarded: July 22, 1964|
|Keel laid: April 12, 1968|
|Launched: October 23, 1969|
|Commissioned: April 10, 1971|
|Decommissioned: July 2, 1992|
|Builder: Todd Pacific Shipyards Corp., Seattle, Wash.|
|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 Harpoon missiles, one Mk-42 5-inch/54 caliber gun, Mk-46 torpedoes from single tube launchers, one 20mm Phalanx CIWS|
|Aircraft: one SH-2F (LAMPS I) helicopter|
|Crew: 18 officers, 267 enlisted|
This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS MARVIN SHIELDS. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.
USS MARVIN SHIELDS Cruise Books:
About the Ship's Name:
Marvin Glen Shields was born 30 December 1939 in Port Townsend, Washington. After attending high school in that city, he enlisted in the Navy on 8 January 1962. Following recruit training at the Naval Training Center, San Diego, he was assigned to Naval Air Station, Glyncoe, Georgia, and then, to the Construction Battalion School at Port Hueneme, California.
Attached to Mobile Construction Battalion ELEVEN, Shields was ordered to Vietnam as an Automotive Construction Mechanic, Third Class. Shields' unit, 1104, was assigned to build and improve training facilities at the Civilian Irregular Defense Group at Dong Xoai, fifty five miles north of Saigon. On 9 June 1965, the compound was taken under fire by a Viet Cong regiment armed with machine guns, recoilless rifles, small arms and flame throwers. Breaching the camp defenses, the Viet Cong surrounded the Americans. For approximately three hours Shields continually supplied his fellow Americans with needed ammunition and returning enemy fire, although he had been wounded. During a massive, close range Viet Cong attack with flame throwers, hand grenades, and small arms fire, Shields assisted in carrying a more critically wounded man to safety and then resumed his gun position for four more hours. When the Commanding Officer asked for a volunteer to accompany him outside the headquarters defenses in an attempt to knock out an enemy machine gun position, which was endangering American personnel with its accurate fire, Shields unhesitatingly volunteered. Advancing toward their objective with a 3.5 inch rocket launcher, they succeeded in destroying the enemy gun emplacement, undoubtedly saving the lives of many American servicemen. While returning to the defensive position, Shields was mortally wounded. He died on the afternoon of 10 June 1965, shortly after being evacuated by helicopter.
Although Dong Xoai was left charred ruins, the American position was held. Marvin Shields was posthumously awarded the Vietnamese Order of Gallantry with Palm and the military Merit Medal. President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded him with the Medal of Honor posthumously in a ceremony at the White House on 13 September 1966.
USS MARVIN SHIELDS Image Gallery: