USS Meyerkord (FF-1058)

• Namesake: USS Meyerkord (FF-1058) was named after Lieutenant Harold Dale Meyerkord, a U.S. Navy officer who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for heroism during the Vietnam War. • Class and Type: Meyerkord was a Knox-class frigate, initially designated as a destroyer escort (DE-1058), before being reclassified as a frigate (FF-1058) in 1975. • Commissioning: She was commissioned on 28 November 1970 at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, California, marking the entry of one of the later additions to the Knox-class. • Vietnam War Service: Shortly after commissioning, Meyerkord was deployed to the Vietnam War, providing naval gunfire support and performing plane guard duties for aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. • Anti-Submarine Warfare: The ship was equipped with advanced sonar and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) systems, including the ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) launcher and an embarked SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I helicopter. • Pacific Fleet Operations: Throughout her career, Meyerkord was homeported in the Pacific and deployed multiple times to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean for exercises, patrols, and presence missions. • Humanitarian Assistance: In 1975, the ship participated in Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of American and Vietnamese civilians from Saigon as South Vietnam fell. • Collision Incident: In 1987, Meyerkord collided with the USNS Waccamaw (T-AO-109) during an underway replenishment, causing minor damage but no serious injuries, highlighting the risks of replenishment at sea. • Decommissioning: Meyerkord was decommissioned on 14 December 1991, marking the end of over two decades of service in the Cold War and post-Vietnam era. • Final Fate: After decommissioning, the ship was sunk as a target during a fleet exercise in 2001, providing live-fire training to the next generation of naval forces.