The Oliver Hazard Perry class is a class of guided-missile frigates named after U.S. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, a commander noted for his role in the Battle of Lake Erie. Also known as the Perry or FFG-7 class, the warships were designed in the United States in the mid-1970s as general-purpose escort vessels inexpensive enough to be bought in large numbers to replace World War II-era destroyers and complement 1960s-era Knox-class frigates.
USS Stark (FFG-31) was the 23rd ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates and was named after Admiral Harold Raynsford Stark (1880–1972). Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyards in Seattle, Washington, on 23 January 1978, Stark was laid down on 24 August 1979, launched on 30 May 1980, and commissioned on 23 October 1982. In 1987, an Iraqi jet fired two missiles at Stark, killing 37 U.S. sailors on board. Decommissioned on 7 May 1999, Stark was scrapped in 2006.
Bath Iron Works (BIW) is a major United States shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, founded in 1884 as Bath Iron Works, Limited. Since 1995, Bath Iron Works has been a subsidiary of General Dynamics, one of the world's largest defense companies. BIW has built private, commercial, and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy.
USS Sides (FFG-14) was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided-missile frigate that served in the US Navy.
USS Jarrett (FFG-33), was the twenty-fifth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigates, was named for Vice Admiral Harry B. Jarrett (1898–1974).
Operation Earnest Will was an American military protection of Kuwaiti-owned tankers from Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988, three years into the Tanker War phase of the Iran–Iraq War. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.
Operation Praying Mantis was the 18 April 1988 attack by the United States on Iranian naval targets in the Persian Gulf in retaliation for the mining of a U.S. warship four days earlier.
USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy which served in World War II, the first of three U.S. Navy ships to bear the name.
USS Simpson (FFG-56) is an Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate of the United States Navy, named for Rear Admiral Rodger W. Simpson.
Samuel Booker Roberts Jr. was a U.S. Navy coxswain who was killed in the Battle of Guadalcanal, and became the namesake of three U.S. Navy warships.
Operation Prime Chance was a United States Special Operations Command operation intended to protect U.S.-flagged oil tankers from Iranian attack during the Iran–Iraq War. The operation took place roughly at the same time as Operation Earnest Will, the largely naval effort to escort the tankers through the Persian Gulf. The operation was begun after the mining of the U.S.-flagged Kuwaiti oil tanker Bridgeton.
USS Gary (FFG-51) was an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate in the United States Navy. She was named for Medal of Honor recipient Commander Donald A. Gary (1903–1977).
Sabalan is an Alvand-class frigate of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. She was launched in 1969.
Robert Theodore Reimann Sr. was a U.S. Navy rear admiral. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he graduated from the Boston University College of Business Administration in 1958. He then attended the Officer Candidate School at Newport, Rhode Island, and was commissioned into the United States Naval Reserve as an ensign on May 1, 1959.
Iran Ajr, formerly known as the Arya Rakhsh, was a Japanese-built landing craft used by Iran to lay naval mines during the Iran–Iraq War. Built in 1978, the 614-ton, 54-meter ship was powered by two diesel engines and featured a bow ramp for unloading cargo. She was scuttled in 1987.
Operation Nimble Archer was the 19 October 1987 attack on two Iranian oil platforms in the Persian Gulf by United States Navy forces. The attack was a response to Iran's missile attack on MV Sea Isle City, a reflagged Kuwaiti oil tanker at anchor off Kuwait, which had occurred three days earlier. The action occurred during Operation Earnest Will, the effort to protect Kuwaiti shipping amid the Iran–Iraq War.
Paul Xavier Rinn was an officer in the United States Navy. He was the first commanding officer of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58) and was in command when the ship struck a mine in the Persian Gulf on 14 April 1988. He later commanded USS Leyte Gulf (CG-55) and was the Iraqi Embargo Commander in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. He retired in 1997 at the rank of captain.
"Filipino Monkey" is a taunt used by radio pranksters in maritime radio transmissions since at least the 1980s, especially in the Persian Gulf. This taunt is also used as a name for pranksters who make odd, confusing, or even threatening calls on VHF marine channel 16, which is the VHF calling and distress channel. Ships at sea are required to monitor the channel, which is meant to be used only to make contact before changing to a working channel.
The USS Stark incident occurred during the Iran–Iraq War on 17 May 1987 in the Persian Gulf, when an Iraqi jet aircraft fired two Exocet missiles at the U.S. frigate USS Stark. A total of 37 United States Navy personnel were killed or later died as a result of the attack, and 21 were injured.
The Bridgeton incident was the mining of the supertanker SS Bridgeton by Iranian IRGC navy near Farsi Island in the Persian Gulf on July 24, 1987. The ship was sailing in the first convoy of Operation Earnest Will, the U.S. response to Kuwaiti requests to protect its tankers from attack amid the Iran–Iraq War.
United States
