USS *Samuel B. Roberts* (FFG-58)

USS *Samuel B. Roberts* (FFG-58) was an *Oliver Hazard Perry*-class guided-missile frigate named for Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts Jr., a United States Navy sailor killed during the Battle of Guadalcanal and posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. Commissioned in 1986, the ship gained legendary status for surviving a catastrophic naval mine strike in the Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will. After nearly three decades of service, which included deployments to the Caribbean Sea and the Arabian Sea, the frigate was decommissioned in 2015 and later used as a target ship in a sink exercise.

History

The vessel's name continues the legacy of Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts Jr., who served with extraordinary heroism aboard the high-speed transport USS *Samuel B. Roberts* (DE-413) during World War II. That ship was famously lost in the Battle off Samar, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf, after engaging vastly superior Imperial Japanese Navy forces. The name was later carried by a destroyer escort, USS *Samuel B. Roberts* (DE-413), before being assigned to this guided-missile frigate. The commissioning ceremony was held at Bath Iron Works in Maine.

Design and description

As a member of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, the frigate was designed as a warship for open-ocean convoy escort and anti-submarine warfare. Its primary armament included a 76 mm OTO Melara naval gun, a Phalanx close-in weapon system, and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. For anti-aircraft defense, it was equipped with a Mark 13 missile launcher capable of firing SM-1MR Standard surface-to-air missiles. The ship's propulsion combined two General Electric LM2500 gas turbine engines with controllable-pitch propellers, giving it a top speed in excess of .

Service history

Following sea trials and shakedown, the frigate's early service included deployments with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea and operations with the Atlantic Fleet. It participated in numerous fleet exercises and counter-narcotics missions in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. In 1988, while deployed to the Middle East in support of Operation Earnest Will, the ship was tasked with escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers re-flagged under the American flag through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz.

Mine strike and repair

On 14 April 1988, while transiting the central Persian Gulf, the frigate struck a submerged mine of a type later attributed to Iran. The explosion tore a massive hole in the hull, flooding the engine room and nearly causing the ship to capsize. The heroic damage control efforts of the crew under the command of Captain Paul X. Rinn saved the vessel from sinking. After temporary repairs by the Military Sealift Command's USS *Acadia* (AD-42), it was transported to Portland, Maine, aboard the heavy-lift ship MV *Mighty Servant 2*. A comprehensive, 14-month repair at Bath Iron Works restored the ship to full service, with the cost exceeding the vessel's original construction price.

Awards and legacy

The ship and its crew received multiple unit awards, including the Navy Unit Commendation and the Combat Action Ribbon, for the mine strike incident. The story of its survival became a celebrated case study in U.S. Navy damage control training and resilience. After decommissioning in a ceremony at Naval Station Newport, the hulk was ultimately used as a target ship in a sink exercise during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2022 naval exercise, where it was finally sunk by a Harpoon missile fired from the United States Coast Guard cutter USCGC *Midgett* (WHEC-726).