USS Oliver Hazard Perry

USS Oliver Hazard Perry underway during a Great Lakes cruise, 24 August 1979.
History
United States
Name	Oliver Hazard Perry
Namesake	Oliver Hazard Perry
Ordered	10 March 1973
Builder	Bath Iron Works
Laid down	12 June 1975
Launched	25 September 1976
Commissioned	17 December 1977
Decommissioned	20 February 1997
Stricken	3 May 1999
Homeport	Mayport (former)
Identification	Code letters:NOHP Hull number: FFG-7
Motto	"Don't Give Up the Ship"
Nickname(s)	Gallant Leader Old Hockey Puck
Honors and awards	See Awards
Fate	Scrapped, 9 September 2005
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
Displacement	4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load
Length	445 feet (136 m), overall
Beam	45 feet (14 m)
Draught	22 feet (6.7 m)
Propulsion	2 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines generating 41,000 shp (31 MW) through a single shaft and variable pitch propeller 2 × Auxiliary Propulsion Units, 350 hp (260 kW) retractable electric azimuth thrusters for maneuvering and docking.
Speed	over 29 knots (54 km/h)
Range	5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 33 km/h)
Complement	15 officers and 190 enlisted, plus SH-2 detachment of roughly six officer pilots and 15 enlisted maintainers
Sensors and processing systems	AN/SPS-49 air-search radar AN/SPS-55 surface-search radar CAS and STIR fire-control radar AN/SQS-56 sonar.
Electronic warfare & decoys	AN/SLQ-32
Armament	As built: 1 × OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun 2 × Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes 1 × Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 4 × .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. 1 × Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine) Note: As of 2004, Mk 13 systems removed from all active US vessels of this class. Note: Unlike other Perry-class frigates, USS Oliver Hazard Perry was not equipped with a Vulcan Phalanx CIWS when built.
Aircraft carried	1; SH-2 Seasprite helicopter (ship was to have capability for two helicopters, but never carried more than one due to flight deck and hangar size limitations)
Aviation facilities	Hangar Bay, Helicopter Pad

USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) was the lead ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates. She was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, an American naval hero who was victorious at the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) was the first ship and, as of 2019, the only ship of the U.S. Navy to bear the name (although there were five previous US Navy ships named for Oliver Hazard Perry – four named USS Perry and one named USS Commodore Perry). Oliver Hazard Perry was in service from 1977 to 1997 and was scrapped in 2005.

The class was originally intended as austere "low" category guided missile frigates (compared with the high capability Spruance class) for General Purpose and Anti-Air convoy escort. They were built under a cloud of controversy, with their very light gun armament and lack of redundancy and duplicated systems in event of ship being hit. They were regarded by the Reagan administration and Secretary John Lehman as not part of the 500 ship navy plan, but ultimately proved useful as anti-submarine ships if fitted to carry Seahawks and towed arrays and into the 21st Century as low grade patrol ships making up the numbers in a USN desperately short of escorts.