No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf by Bradley Peniston with a foreword by Adm. (ret.) William J. Crowe

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.

Navy Coxswain Samuel B. Roberts, ca. 194227 September 1942

Samuel Booker Roberts Jr., a Navy coxswain, is mortally wounded while helping to rescue Marines on Guadalcanal.

DE 413 in 1944 28 April 1944

First USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) commissioned.

Samuel B. Roberts (DE 413) survivors are pulled from the water.25 October 1944

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.

DE 8231946-1970

U.S. Navy operates second USS Samuel B. Roberts (DD 823).

USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG 7)25 September 1976

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

 

IRNA photo: Iran-Iraq War22 September 1980

Iraq invades Iran.

 

FFG 58 at Bath Iron Works 8 December 1984

BIW launches third USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58).

 

 

FFG 58 at Bath Iron Works 4 February 1986

USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) gets underway at BIW for sea trials.

 

FFG 58 commissioned at Bath Iron Works 12 April 1986

Roberts commissioned, Cmdr. Paul X. Rinn commanding.

 

Lookout on USS Nicholas during Operation Earnest Will7 March 1987

The United States agrees to protect 11 Kuwaiti tankers in the Persian Gulf, launching Operation Earnest Will.

USS Stark on fire in the Persian Gulf 17 May 1987

USS Stark (FFG 37) is hit by two Iraqi missiles.

 

Bridgeton in the Persian Gulf after repairs 24 July 1987

Tanker Bridgeton strikes a mine during the first Earnest Will convoy.

Mines aboard the captured Iranian minelayer Iran Ajr 21 September 1987

U.S. forces catch Iranian ship Iran Ajr laying mines.

 

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 198814 February 1988

Roberts arrives in Persian Gulf for nearly four months of convoys and other operations.

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 1988March 1988

Roberts patrols in northern Gulf, guarding U.S. special operations barges as part of Operation Prime Chance.

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. 10 April 1988

Roberts sweeps its squadron's Battle E awards.

 

USS Samuel B. Roberts in Dubai Drydock after striking Iranian mine in central Gulf 14 April 1988

Roberts strikes Iranian mine in central Gulf. Crew fight fire and flooding into the night.

IS Sahand, an Iranian frigate, on fire after attack by US forces.18 April 1988

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.

USS Samuel B. Roberts aboard Mighty Servant 227 June 1988

Roberts 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.

FFG 58 under repair in Bath Iron Works' drydock in Portland, Maine6 October 1988

Roberts enters Bath Iron Works' drydock in Portland, Maine, for repairs.

About The Book

Cover for No Higher Honor: Saving the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian GulfNo Higher Honor is the first book to detail the extraordinary tale of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) and the crew's heroic efforts to save the ship after it hit an Iranian mine in 1988. Drawing on years of research and scores of interviews, Bradley Peniston chronicles the origins of the Perry-class frigate; the crew's training; its operations in the Persian Gulf; the U.S. retaliation against Iran, which became the biggest surface battle since World War II; and the complex repairs that returned the ship to duty.

Published by Naval Institute Press, the 275-page book contains 20 photos, several diagrams of the damage, and a muster list of the shipmates aboard the Roberts during its fight for survival.

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