USS Samuel Elliott Morison FFG13

• Namesake Honors: USS Samuel Eliot Morison (FFG-13) was named after Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, a renowned naval historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who chronicled much of the U.S. Navy's history during World War II. • Class and Type: She was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate, a class known for its versatility and widespread use during the Cold War. • Commissioning Date: The ship was commissioned on 11 June 1980 at Bath, Maine, with Mrs. Sally Morison Thomas, the historian's daughter, serving as the ship's sponsor. • First in Her Class: FFG-13 was the first ship in her class to be named after a historian, reflecting the Navy’s deep respect for Morison’s contributions to naval literature. • Cold War Deployments: The frigate participated in numerous Cold War operations, including escort missions, anti-submarine warfare exercises, and multinational NATO exercises in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. • Operation Earnest Will: In 1987–1988, she escorted re-flagged Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf during the Iran-Iraq War, serving as part of Operation Earnest Will. • Rescue Operations: USS Samuel Eliot Morison was involved in several search and rescue missions, notably saving Cuban and Haitian migrants found at sea in the early 1990s. • Counter-Narcotics Missions: In the 1990s, the ship was deployed to the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific for counter-narcotics operations, intercepting vessels involved in drug smuggling. • Awarded for Excellence: Throughout her service, FFG-13 earned multiple awards, including the Navy “E” Ribbon for battle efficiency and the Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon. • Decommissioning and Fate: The ship was decommissioned on 11 July 2002. She was later sunk as a target during a fleet training exercise off the coast of Puerto Rico in 2005, continuing her service by providing realistic training for U.S. and allied naval forces.