A half-century ago today, a big event happened in terms of naval history.
The class leader of what was probably the best type of frigate ever used by the U.S. Navy in the 20th Century, the sixth USS Oliver Hazard Perry (PFG-109) was ordered from Bath Iron Works on 30 October 1973 as part of the FY73 program.
The 1973 Jane’s article on the project, showed the frigate with the same style stack arrangement as the Coast Guard’s 378-foot Hamilton class that had just been built, and the only gun being a twin 30mm over the hangar
The more fleshed-out FFG-7 impression, circa 1976. Note she now has a 76mm OTO MK75 installed
Laid down at Bath Iron Works in Maine on 12 June 1975 and redesignated as FFG-7 shortly after, launched on 25 September 1976, and commissioned on 17 December 1977, she was the first of 51 completed for the USN while another 16 were built for the navies of Australia, Taiwan, and Spain.
Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate FFG 7 launched in 1976, via Bath
Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate FFG 7 launched in 1976, via Bath
Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate FFG 7 trials, 1977, via Bath
While OHP herself was decommissioned in 1997 after an almost exactly 20-year career, and scrapped by 2006, a dozen of her younger sisters have been disposed of in assorted SINKEXs and, although gone from U.S. service for a half-decade, the class and subclasses live on with no less than 34 still in some form of active service with eight foreign fleets.