USS ''Stephen W. Groves'' (FFG-29), twenty-first ship of the of

guided missile frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

s, 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 The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea. The U.S. Navy under Adm ...

during World War II.

Namesake

Stephen William Groves was born on 29 January 1917 in

Millinocket Millinocket is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census. Millinocket's economy has historically been centered on forest products and recreation, but the paper company closed in 2008. History ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. He graduated from

Schenck High School Schenck High School is a public high school in East Millinocket, Maine, United States. It is a part of the East Millinocket Schools. It serves East Millinocket, Medway, and Woodville.East Millinocket, Maine, and received a

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

degree from the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

in 1939. He joined the U.S. Navy in December 1940 and was commissioned in August 1941. He joined the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

in December 1941. During the

, took off nine times from , his was one of six American fighters that fought off a vastly superior Japanese force that was trying to finish off the damaged carrier 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 The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

Post in East Millinocket is named the Feeney-Groves Post, partially in his memory.

Construction and career

Ordered from Bath Iron Works,

Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...

, on 23 January 1978 as part of the FY78 program, ''Stephen W. Groves'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

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, , was canceled in 1944 prior to completion. Assigned to

Destroyer Squadron 14 Destroyer Squadron 14, now Naval Surface Squadron Fourteen (CNSS 14, or SURFRON 14), is the administrative Immediate Superior in Command (ISIC) for ships that are homeported at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida. CNSS 14 was establi ...

and home-ported at

Naval Station Mayport Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield (Admi ...

, Florida. During her maiden voyage, ''Groves'' was assigned to units in support of

US Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

stationed at the airport in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon. Arriving shortly after the barracks bombing in 1983, she was assigned to host the helicopter detachment from , enabling ''New Jersey'' to utilize all three of her turrets for attacking targets in the

Beqaa Valley The Beqaa Valley ( ar, links=no, وادي البقاع, ', Lebanese ), also transliterated as Bekaa, Biqâ, and Becaa and known in classical antiquity as Coele-Syria, is a fertile valley in eastern Lebanon. It is Lebanon's most important ...

. 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 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. On 28 August 2005, she sailed from her then- home port of Pascagoula, Mississippi, along with

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

, under threat from

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

. Deployed to the Indian Ocean, on 10 May 2011 she intercepted the Taiwanese

longliner Longline fishing, or longlining, is a commercial fishing angling technique that uses a long ''main line'' with baited hooks attached at intervals via short branch lines called ''snoods'' or ''gangions''.Somalian pirates Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Somal ...

. 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. She was decommissioned on 24 February 2012 and was moved to

Brownsville, Texas Brownsville () is a city in Cameron County in the U.S. state of Texas. It is on the western Gulf Coast in South Texas, adjacent to the border with Matamoros, Mexico. The city covers , and has a population of 186,738 as of the 2020 census. It ...

for deconstruction and recycling to be completed in 2021. Steven W

References

External links

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navysite.de: USS ''Stephen W. Groves''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephen W. Groves (Ffg-29) 1981 ships Cold War frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates of the United States Navy Ships built in Bath, Maine