Timeline & Photos

The book No Higher Honor features 20 photos of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) and its crew. Click the thumbnails to see many more photos of the ship and related topics.

27 September 1942: Navy Coxswain Samuel B. Roberts, ca. 1942Samuel Booker Roberts Jr., a Navy coxswain, is mortally wounded while helping to rescue Marines on Guadalcanal.

28 April 1944:  DE 413 in 1944 First USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) commissioned.

25 October 1944: Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) survivors are pulled from the water.DE 413 helps turn back the Japanese Center Force off the Philippine island of Samar, saving a U.S. invasion fleet. Roberts sinks after taking heavy shellfire.

1946-70: DE 823 U.S. Navy operates second USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD 823).

25 September 1976: USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG 7)Bath Iron Works launches USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG 7), the first of Adm. Elmo Zumwalt’s new class of escort warships.

22 September 1980: IRNA photo: Iran-Iraq War Iraq invades Iran, touching off a grinding war that would see combat on land and at sea.

8 December 1984: FFG 58 at Bath Iron Works BIW launches third USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58). The ship is Bath’s penultimate Perry-class vessel.

4 February 1986: FFG 58 at Bath Iron Works USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) gets underway at BIW for sea trials.

12 April 1986: FFG 58 commissioned at Bath Iron Works Roberts commissioned, Cmdr. Paul X. Rinn commanding.

7 March 1987: Lookout on USS Nicholas during Operation Earnest WillThe United States agrees to protect 11 Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf, launching Operation Earnest Will.

17 May 1987: USS Stark on fire in the Persian Gulf Stark (FFG 37) is hit by two Iraqi missiles, killing 37 U.S. sailors.

24 July 1987: Bridgeton in the Persian Gulf after repairs Tanker Bridgeton strikes a mine during the first Earnest Will convoy.

21 September 1987: Mines aboard the captured Iranian minelayer Iran Ajr U.S. forces catch Iranian ship Iran Ajr laying mines.

14 February 1988: The U.S. Navy guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) turns to keep an eye on the Iranian frigate Sahand in the Persian Gulf in 1988Roberts arrives in Persian Gulf for nearly four months of convoys and other operations.

March 1988: The U.S. Navy guided missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) turns to keep an eye on the Iranian frigate Sahand in the Persian Gulf in 1988Roberts patrols in northern Gulf, guarding U.S. special operations barges as part of Operation Prime Chance.

10 April 1988: Cmdr. Paul X. Rinn, right, the commanding officer of the U.S. Navy frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts, and BMCS (SW) George Frost, the crew's senior enlisted sailor, pose on the port bridge wing above the ship's various Battle Efficiency awards.Roberts sweeps its squadron’s Battle E awards, marking it as the best ship in the group.

14 April 1988: USS Samuel B. Roberts in Dubai Drydock after striking Iranian mine in central GulfRoberts strikes Iranian mine in central Gulf. Crew fight fire and flooding into the night.

18 April 1988: IS Sahand, an Iranian frigate, on fire after attack by US forces.In retaliation, U.S. naval forces sink or heavily damage five Iranian warships and smaller vessels in Operation Praying Mantis, the largest surface battle since World War II.

27 June 1988: USS Samuel B. Roberts aboard Mighty Servant 2Roberts loaded on Mighty Servant II, a 25,743-ton semi-submersible cargo vessel the Navy chartered from a Dutch salvage firm for $1.3 million.

6 October 1988: FFG 58 under repair in Bath Iron Works' drydock in Portland, MaineRoberts enters Bath Iron Works’ drydock in Portland, Maine, for repairs.