As designed, the ship had a full load displacement of 3,605 tons, a length overall of , a beam of , and a draught of . Early in the ship's career, she was modified from the "Oliver Hazard Perry" Flight I design to Flight III, requiring a lengthening of the helicopter deck for the RAST helicopter recovery system, increasing the displacement to 4,100 tons and pushing the overall length to . Propulsion machinery consisted of two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, which provided a combined to the single propeller shaft. Top speed was , with a range of at . Two electric auxiliary propulsors were used for close manoeuvring, with a top speed of . The standard ship's company was 184, including 15 officers, but excluding the flight crew for the embarked helicopters.