The green service uniform, often derided as “the bus driver uniform” has finally been laid to rest after 61 years of approved wear, the vast majority of that stretch as the service uniform that defined the Army. As of Oct. 1, the “Green Class As” are no longer permitted for wear.
In this file photo from Sept. 13, 2014, a rainbow is seen above the guided-missile frigate USS Simpson after an underway replenishment in the Atlantic Ocean.
Jorge Delgado/U.S. Navy
Also this week, the U.S. Navy decommissioned its last Perry-class frigate, reducing the Navy’s number of active ships that have sunk an enemy vessel to just one (Constitution). The end of the Navy’s frigates marks a new era of naval warfare where ships are less likely to go to battle in the open sea. The USS Simpson removed its weapons, covered its windows, and on Tuesday, it lowered its flags.
On 17 April 1988, Simpson took part in Operation Praying Mantis, the U.S. response to the mining of the frigate Samuel B. Roberts, which hit an Iranian M-08 mine on 14 April 1988.
On 18 April, Simpson, along with USS Wainwright and USS Bagley, destroyed Iranian naval and intelligence facilities on the oil platform Sirri in the Persian Gulf. Later that day, the ships encountered the Iranian Kaman-class (French Combatte II type) missile patrol boat Joshan, which launched a Harpoon missile. Simpson immediately returned missile fire, striking Joshan in her superstructure. Joshan was then sunk by combined gunfire.
Now, the ship will travel to Philadelphia until a foreign nation buys it.
