USS Oliver Hazard Perry
1976 Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) was the lead ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates. She was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, an American naval hero who was victorious at the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) was the first ship and, as of 2026, the only ship of the U.S. Navy to bear the name (although there were five previous US Navy ships named for Oliver Hazard Perry – four named USS Perry and one named USS Commodore Perry). Oliver Hazard Perry was in service from 1977 to 1997 and was scrapped in 2005.
The class was originally intended as austere "low" category guided missile frigates (compared with the high capability Spruance class) for General Purpose and Anti-Air convoy escort. They were built under a cloud of controversy, with their very light gun armament and lack of redundancy and duplicated systems in event of ship being hit. They were regarded by the Reagan administration and Secretary John Lehman as not part of the 500 ship navy plan, but ultimately proved useful as anti-submarine ships if fitted to carry Seahawks and towed arrays and into the 21st Century as low grade patrol ships making up the numbers in a USN desperately short of escorts.
Construction and career
Oliver Hazard Perry was ordered from Bath Iron Works on 30 October 1973 as part of the FY73 program, and was laid down on 12 June 1975, launched on 25 September 1976, and commissioned on 17 December 1977. She was ordered as PFG-109 but was redesignated as FFG-7 in the 1975 fleet designation realignment on 1 June 1975, before she was laid down.
Launch incident
During her launch ceremony on 25 September 1976, the ship found herself briefly stuck on the slip-way.
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