USS Elrod (FFG-55)

USS Elrod (FFG-55) in 2012.
History
United States
Name:	Elrod
Namesake:	Major Henry T. Elrod
Awarded:	22 May 1981
Builder:	Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Laid down:	21 November 1983
Launched:	12 May 1984
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Norma J. McDonald
Commissioned:	21 September 1985
Decommissioned:	30 January 2015
Struck:	30 January 2015
Homeport:	NS Norfolk, Virginia
Identification:	Hull symbol:FFG-55 Code letters:NHTE
Motto:	War Ready to Preserve Peace
Nickname(s):	Hammerin' Hank USS Hellrod
Status:	Stricken, to be disposed of
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate
Displacement:	4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load
Length:	453 feet (138 m), overall
Beam:	45 feet (14 m)
Draft:	22 feet (6.7 m)
Propulsion:	2 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines generating 41,000 shp (31 MW) through a single shaft and variable pitch propeller 2 × Auxiliary Propulsion Units, 350 hp (260 kW) retractable electric azimuth thrusters for maneuvering and docking.
Speed:	over 29 knots (54 km/h)
Range:	5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 33 km/h)
Complement:	15 officers and 190 enlisted, plus SH-60 LAMPS detachment of roughly six officer pilots and 15 enlisted maintainers
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-49 air-search radar AN/SPS-55 surface-search radar CAS and STIR fire-control radar AN/SQS-56 sonar.
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32
Armament:	As built: 1 × OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun 2 × Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes 1 × Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 4 × .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. 1 × Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine) Note: As of 2004, Mk 13 systems removed from all active US vessels of this class. Mk 38 Mod 2 in place of Mk 13
Aircraft carried:	2 × SH-60B LAMPS Mk III helicopters
Aviation facilities:	2 × Hangars RAST helicopter hauldown system

USS Elrod (FFG-55), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, is a ship of the United States Navy named after Captain Henry T. Elrod (1905–1941), a Marine aviator who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in the defense of Wake Island in World War II.

The ship was originally home ported in Charleston, SC and shifted to Norfolk, VA in March 1995. Elrod has completed five deployments to the Persian Gulf, three to the Mediterranean Sea, and one to the Adriatic Sea, and has participated in numerous operations in the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea and the Caribbean Sea.

Elrod was laid down on 21 November 1983 at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works; launched on 12 May 1984; sponsored by Mrs. Norma J. McDonald, wife of Admiral Wesley L. McDonald, Commander Atlantic Fleet and Commander Atlantic Command; and commissioned on 18 May 1985, Commander Richard W. Moore in command.

An Iranian speedboat attacked South Korean tanker Hyundai No. 7 with rocket propelled grenades near Abū Mūsá, 20 miles southwest of Sharjar, on 25 December 1987. Elrod, patrolling the Persian Gulf, launched Magnum 442, an SH-60B manned by pilot Lt. Neil W. T. Hogg, copilot Lt. Gregory P. Curth, and aircrewmen Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Operator 2nd Class Charles Crissman and Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Operator Airman Robert Bauch of Helicopter Antisubmarine Squadron (Light) (HSL) 44 Detachment 3. Magnum 442 rescued 11 of the 20 crewmembers and flew them to British frigate Scylla. A Westland Lynx HAS.3 from Scylla recovered the remaining nine people.