Snowe, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee on Seapower, wrote earlier this year to Admiral William J. Flanagan, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, to request the naval presence at the Boothbay Harbor festival, which is being held for the 37th year in 1999. This week, Rear Admiral H.G. Ulrich confirmed that the Navy will send the U.S.S. Hawes (FFG-53) to participate in Boothbay Harbor's celebration. Naval officials said that the ship will arrive in Boothbay Harbor on Monday, June 21, and remain until Friday, June 25.

``I am extremely pleased that the Navy has accommodated my request and will send a ship to participate in the 37th Annual Boothbay Harbor Windjammer Festival,'' Snowe said. ``The Navy's participation will add a festive note to this maritime festival, and I am extremely pleased that the U.S.S. Hawes will be able to be in Boothbay Harbor this summer,'' she said.

The U.S.S. Hawes, a 453-foot vessel based at Norfolk, Virginia, was built at Bath Iron Works and commissioned in 1984 as the 20th of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided missile frigates. Captained by Commander Charles Dixon, the ship carries a crew of 16 officers, 15 Chief Petty Officers, and 185 enlisted personnel.

Hawes is a multi-mission platform capable of performing a variety of roles, ranging from convoy escort and coastal (littoral) operations to air and surface warfare. The ship carries surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, anti-submarine torpedoes, and a variety of sophisticated self-defense systems. A Naval Tactical Data System, helicopters and a tactical towed array system provide the ship combat capability far beyond the initial expectations for this class of vessel.