USS Stephen W. Groves

USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG-29), twenty-first ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry-class of guided missile frigates, was named for Ensign Stephen W. Groves (1917–1942), a naval aviator who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism at the Battle of Midway during World War II.

For the John C. Butler-class destroyer escort, see USS Groves (DE-543).

USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG-29)
USS Stephen W. Groves in the Atlantic Ocean in 2008
History
United States
NameStephen W. Groves
NamesakeEnsign Stephen W. Groves
Awarded23 January 1978
BuilderBath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Laid down16 September 1980
Launched4 April 1981
Commissioned17 April 1982
Decommissioned24 February 2012
HomeportMayport Naval Station
Identification
Motto
  • Dirigo
  • (I Direct)
Nickname(s)Stevie G
StatusBeing towed to Brownsville to be scrapped as of 5 November 2020
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeOliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
Displacement4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load
Length453 feet (138 m), overall
Beam45 feet (14 m)
Draft22 feet (6.7 m)
Propulsion
Speedover 29 knots (54 km/h)
Range5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 33 km/h)
Complement15 officers and 190 enlisted, plus SH-60 LAMPS detachment of roughly six officer pilots and 15 enlisted maintainers
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys		AN/SLQ-32
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × SH-60 LAMPS III helicopters

Namesake

Stephen William Groves was born on 29 January 1917 in Millinocket, Maine. He graduated from Schenck High School in East Millinocket, Maine, and received a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Maine in 1939.

He joined the U.S. Navy in December 1940 and was commissioned in August 1941. He joined the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in December 1941. During the Battle of Midway, took off nine times from USS Hornet, his was one of six American fighters that fought off a vastly superior Japanese force that was trying to finish off the damaged carrier USS Yorktown on 4 June 1942. The U.S. fighters were credited with shooting down 14 Japanese planes and causing six others to retreat.

Groves was declared missing and presumed dead on 5 June 1942. He was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross. The destroyer escort USS Groves (DE-543) was named for him, but its construction was cancelled in 1944. The American Legion Post in East Millinocket is named the Feeney-Groves Post, partially in his memory.

Construction and career

Ordered from Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, on 23 January 1978 as part of the FY78 program, Stephen W. Groves was laid down on 16 September 1980, launched on 4 April 1981, and commissioned on 17 April 1982.

Stephen W. Groves (FFG-29) is the first ship of that name in the U.S. Navy. A previous ship named for Ensign Groves, destroyer escort, Groves (DE-543), was canceled in 1944 prior to completion. Assigned to Destroyer Squadron 14 and home-ported at Naval Station Mayport, Florida.

During her maiden voyage, Groves was assigned to units in support of US Marines stationed at the airport in Beirut, Lebanon. Arriving shortly after the barracks bombing in 1983, she was assigned to host the helicopter detachment from USS New Jersey, enabling New Jersey to utilize all three of her turrets for attacking targets in the Beqaa Valley. Additionally, Groves protected New Jersey and other surface units from air threats. She tracked unidentified submarines, monitored Yasser Arafat's transit from Beirut to Cyprus, and entered Beirut harbor with other units to conduct direct fire support against units hostile to USMC positions. Groves was awarded a Meritorious Unit Citation for these actions.

She was also on station when the frigate Stark was struck by two missiles from an Iraqi fighter jet, and assisted Stark in her return to Mayport, Florida.

In September 2003, while patrolling in the Eastern Pacific Stephen W. Groves captured a go-fast drug smuggling boat along with its six crewmembers. 1.5 tons of cocaine was recovered from the ocean after it had been dumped into the sea by the go-fast's crew.[2]

On 28 August 2005, she sailed from her then-home port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, along with sister ship John L. Hall, under threat from Hurricane Katrina.

Deployed to the Indian Ocean, on 10 May 2011 she intercepted the Taiwanese longliner Jih Chun Tsai 68, which had been hijacked by Somalian pirates. Receiving fire from the fishing vessel, Stephen W. Groves engaged her in a single ship action that saw the pirate vessel sunk with three pirates killed, two wounded, and one Taiwanese hostage killed. Nineteen Somali pirates and two Chinese hostages were taken on board. The rescued Chinese crew were repatriated to China and their families.[3] She was decommissioned on 24 February 2012 and was moved to Brownsville, Texas for deconstruction and recycling to be completed in 2021. [4]

Stephen W. Groves as seen at sunset in Key West on 22 July 2007.

References
  1. "USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29)". Navsource.org. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  2. "USS Stephen W. Groves Chokes Drug Smuggling Operation". Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  3. "C5F Statement Regarding Jih Chun Tsai 68 Command Investigation". www.cusnc.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 8 August 2011.
  4. "Historic USS Stephen W. Groves makes her final journey to Brownsville, Texas".

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

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