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 an "OHP" or FFG-7 (commonly "fig seven") 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 s. pp.42

In Admiral Elmo Zumwalt's "high low fleet plan", the FFG-7s were the low-capability ships, with the s serving as the high-capability ships. Intended to protect amphibious landing forces, supply and replenishment groups, and merchant convoys from aircraft and submarines, they were also later part of battleship-centered surface action groups and aircraft carrier battle groups/strike groups. 55 ships were built in the United States: 51 for the United States Navy and four for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Eight were built in Taiwan, six in Spain, and two in Australia for their navies. Former U.S. Navy warships of this class have been sold or donated to the navies of Bahrain, Egypt, Poland, Pakistan, Taiwan, and Turkey.

The first of the 51 U.S. Navy-built Oliver Hazard Perry frigates entered into service in 1977, and the last remaining in active service, , was decommissioned on 29 September 2015. The retired vessels were mostly mothballed with some transferred to other navies for continued service and some used as weapons targets and sunk. Some of the U.S. Navy's frigates, such as USS Duncan (14.6 years in service), had fairly short careers, while a few lasted as long as 30+ years in active U.S. service, with some lasting even longer after being sold or donated to other navies. In 2020, the Navy announced the new as their latest class of frigates. The Constellation-class frigate was cancelled in 2025, though the two ships being built will be completed. It will be replaced with the FF(X) variant of the United States Coast Guard's National Security Cutter and a possible foreign-sourced in production frigate design.https://www.twz.com/sea/the-three-foreign-frigates-being-studied-for-possible-u-s-navy-service

Design and construction

The ships were designed by the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine in partnership with naval architects Gibbs & Cox. The design process was notable as the initial design was accomplished with the help of computers in 18 hours by Raye Montague, a civilian U.S. Navy naval engineer, making it the first ship designed by computer.Workhorse frigates Ships Monthly February 2016 pages 44-47

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships were produced in long "short-hull" (Flight I) and long "long-hull" (Flight III) variants. The long-hull ships (FFG 8, 28, 29, 32, 33, and 36–61) carry the larger SH-60 Seahawk LAMPS III helicopters, while the short-hulled warships carry the smaller and less-capable SH-2 Seasprite LAMPS I. Aside from the lengths of their hulls, the principal difference between the versions is the location of the aft capstan: on long-hull ships, it sits a step below the level of the flight deck to provide clearance for the tail rotor of the longer Seahawk helicopters.

The long-hull ships carry the RAST (Recovery Assist Securing and Traversing) system (also known as a Beartrap (hauldown device)) for the Seahawk. It is a hook, cable, and winch system that can reel in a Seahawk from a hovering flight, expanding the ship's pitch-and-roll range in which flight operations are permitted. The FFG 8, 29, 32, and 33 were built as "short-hull" warships but were later modified into "long-hull" warships.

Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were the second class of surface ships (after the s) in the U.S. Navy to be built with gas turbine propulsion. The gas turbine propulsion plant was more automated than other Navy propulsion plants at the time, and it could be centrally monitored and controlled from a remote engineering control center away from the engines. The gas turbine propulsion plants also allowed the ship's speed to be controlled directly from the bridge via a throttle control, a first for the U.S. Navy.

American shipyards constructed Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships for the U.S. Navy and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Early American-built Australian ships were originally built as the "short-hull" version, but they were modified during the 1980s to the "long-hull" design. Shipyards in Australia, Spain, and Taiwan produced several warships of the "long-hull" design for their navies.

Although the per-ship costs rose greatly over the period of production, all 51 ships planned for the U.S. Navy were built.

During the design phase of the Oliver Hazard Perry class, the head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, R.J. Daniels, was invited by an old friend, U.S. Chief of the Bureau of Ships, Admiral Robert C. Gooding, to advise upon the use of variable-pitch propellers in the class. During this conversation, Daniels warned Gooding against the use of aluminium in the superstructure of the FFG-7 class as he believed it would lead to structural weaknesses. A number of ships subsequently developed structural cracks, including a fissure in USS Duncan, before the problems were remedied.Daniels, R.J, p.219, The End of an Era: The Memoirs of a Naval Constructor, Periscope Publishing, 2004, ,

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were designed primarily as anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare guided-missile warships intended to provide open-ocean escort of amphibious warfare ships and merchant ship convoys in moderate threat environments in a potential war with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries. They could also provide air defense against 1970s- and 1980s-era aircraft and anti-ship missiles. These warships are equipped to escort and protect aircraft carrier battle groups, amphibious landing groups, underway replenishment groups, and merchant ship convoys. They can conduct independent operations to perform tasks such as surveillance of illegal drug smugglers, maritime interception operations, and exercises with other nations.Raleigh Clayton Muns, Oliver Hazard Perry Class Frigates: United States Navy (2010), p.3

The addition of the Naval Tactical Data System, LAMPS helicopters, and the Tactical Towed Array System (TACTAS) gave these warships a combat capability far beyond the original expectations. They are well suited for operations in littoral regions and most war-at-sea scenarios.

Notable combat actions

Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates made worldwide news during the 1980s. Despite being small, these frigates were shown to be very durable. During the Iran–Iraq War, on 17 May 1987, was attacked by an Iraqi warplane and struck by two Exocet anti-ship missiles. Thirty-seven U.S. Navy sailors died in the deadly prelude to the American Operation Earnest Will, the reflagging and escorting of oil tankers through the Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz.

Less than a year later, on 14 April 1988, was nearly sunk by an Iranian mine. There were no deaths, but ten sailors were evacuated from the warship for medical treatment. The crew of Samuel B. Roberts battled fire and flooding for two days, ultimately managing to save the ship. The U.S. Navy retaliated four days later with Operation Praying Mantis, a one-day attack on Iranian oil platforms being used as bases for raids on merchant shipping. Those had included bases for the minelaying operations that damaged Samuel B. Roberts. Stark and Roberts were each repaired in American shipyards and returned to full service. Stark was decommissioned in 1999 and scrapped in 2006. Roberts was decommissioned at Mayport on 22 May 2015.

On 18 April 1988, was accompanying the cruiser and frigate when they came under attack from the Iranian gunboat , which fired a U.S.-made Harpoon anti-ship missile at the ships. With Simpson having the only clear shot, the frigate fired an SM-1 standard missile, which struck Joshan. Simpson fired three more SM-1s, and with later naval fire from Wainwright, sank the Iranian vessel.

Modifications United States The United States Navy and Royal Australian Navy modified their remaining Perrys to reduce their operating costs, replacing Detroit Diesel 16V149TI electrical generators with Caterpillar 3512B diesel engines.

Upgrades to the Perry class were problematic due to "little reserved space for growth (39 tons in the original design), and the inflexible, proprietary electronics of the time", such that the "US Navy gave up on the idea of upgrades to face new communications realities and advanced missile threats". The U.S. Navy decommissioned 25 "FFG-7 Short" ships via "bargain basement sales to allies or outright retirement, after an average of only 18 years of service".

From 2004 to 2005, the U.S. Navy removed the frigates' Mk 13 single-arm missile launchers because the primary missile, the Standard SM-1MR, had become outmoded. It would supposedly have been too costly to refit the Standard SM-1MR missiles, which had little ability to bring down sea-skimming missiles. Another reason was to allow more SM-1MRs to go to American allies that operated Perrys, such as Poland, Spain, Australia, Turkey, and Taiwan. As a result, the "zone-defense" anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) capability of the U.S. Navy's Perrys had vanished, and all that remained was a "point-defense" type of anti-air warfare armament, so they relied upon cover from AEGIS destroyers and cruisers.

The removal of the Mk 13 launchers also stripped the frigates of their Harpoon anti-ship missiles. However, their Seahawk helicopters could still carry the much shorter-range Penguin and Hellfire anti-ship missiles. The last nine ships of the class had new remotely operated 25 mm Mk 38 Mod 2 Machine Gun Systems (MGSs) installed on platforms over the old Mk 13 launcher magazine.

Up to 2002, the U.S. Navy updated the remaining active Oliver Hazard Perry-class warships' Phalanx CIWS to the "Block 1B" capability, which allowed the Mk 15 20 mm Phalanx gun to shoot at fast-moving surface craft and helicopters. They were also to have been fitted with the Mk 53 Decoy Launching System "Nulka" in place of the SRBOC (Super Rapid Blooming Offboard Chaff) and flares, which would have better protected the ship against anti-ship missiles. It was planned to outfit the remaining ships with a 21-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher at the location of the former Mk 13, but this did not occur.The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet Norman Polmar. Naval Institute Press, 2005. page 161

On 11 May 2009, the first International Frigate Working Group met at Mayport Naval Station to discuss maintenance, obsolescence, and logistics issues regarding Oliver Hazard Perry-class ships of the U.S. and foreign navies.

On 16 June 2009, Vice Admiral Barry McCullough turned down the suggestion of then-U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) to keep the Perrys in service, citing their worn-out and maxed-out condition. However, U.S. Representative Ander Crenshaw (R-FL) and former U.S. Representative Gene Taylor (D-MS) took up the cause to retain the vessels.

The Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates were to have been eventually replaced by Littoral Combat Ships by 2019. However, the worn-out frigates were being retired faster than the LCSs were being built, which may lead to a gap in United States Southern Command mission coverage.Faram, Mark D. "Keeping frigates running no easy feat for crews." Navy Times, 29 May 2012. According to Navy deactivation plans, all Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates would be retired by October 2015. Simpson was the last to be retired (on 29 September 2015), leaving the Navy devoid of frigates for the first time since 1943. The ships will either be made available for sale to foreign navies or dismantled.