Patrick O. Ford
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USS ''Ford'' (FFG-54) was a in service with the United States Navy from 1985 to 2013. She was sunk as a target in the Pacific Ocean near Guam in 2019.


Namesake

Patrick Osborne Ford was born on 2 May 1942 in San Francisco, California. He enlisted in the Navy at Phoenix, Arizona on 24 July 1959. He completed basic training at the Naval Training Center, San Diego, California, and received orders to report to Naval Station Adak Alaska. He reported aboard the
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
where he served as a Gunner's Mate until the end of his enlistment in 1963. Reenlisting on 11 February 1965 he served at the NS Long Beach, California. In 1966, he was transferred to the Danang,
South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...
, where he was ordered to report aboard . Following completion of his tour aboard ''MacKenzie'', Ford was subsequently transferred to where he remained until the end of his second enlistment in 1967. Later that year Ford reenlisted for the second time at the Naval Receiving Station, San Francisco, California. He was ordered to the
Naval Amphibious Base Coronado Naval Amphibious Base Coronado (NAB Coronado) is a US naval installation located across the bay from San Diego, California. The base, situated on the Silver Strand, between San Diego Bay and the Pacific Ocean, is a major Navy shore command, sup ...
for
River Patrol Craft A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
Training. Following completion of training in 1968, GMG2 Ford was directed to report to
Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...
, Republic of Vietnam. He was assigned to
Task Force 116 Task may refer to: * Task (computing), in computing, a program execution context * Task (language instruction) refers to a certain type of activity used in language instruction * Task (project management), an activity that needs to be accomplished ...
,
River Squadron 5 A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...
, River Section 535 in 1968. For the next five months, he served as a Patrol Boat, River (PBR) sailor, monitoring the traffic of the many rivers and coastal waterways of the area. On 21 June 1968, GMG2 Ford was serving as the aft machine-gunner aboard ''PBR 750'' as part of a two-boat patrol operating in the upper My Tho River near the town of Cái Bè. The boats were maneuvering down the river when they spotted a
sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like th ...
fleeing into a nearby canal. The two patrol boats gave chase and captured the sampan one hundred meters further up the canal. As the PBR returned to the river with the captured sampan in tow, it was ambushed by a Viet Cong (VC) patrol that unleashed an overwhelming barrage of heavy machine-gunfire and rockets. Two
B-40 rocket The RPG-2 ( Russian: РПГ-2, Ручной противотанковый гранатомёт, ''Ruchnoy Protivotankovy Granatomyot''; English: "hand-held antitank grenade launcher") is a man-portable, shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon that was de ...
s struck Ford's boat, immediately killing the patrol leader, William E. Dennis, and Boatswain's Mate First Class Scott C. Delph. Within seconds, the boat was ablaze and out of control, heading directly for the VC positions. Even as the boat was hit by four additional rockets and after suffering serious injuries, Ford maintained a steady volume of return fire from his aft machine-gunner's station. In the face of enemy gunfire and with his clothing on fire, Ford assisted three seriously wounded shipmates into the water. Ford told the last of the men to swim to the rescue boat while he maintained cover fire. He did not make it off the boat and despite search efforts was not found until the next morning on the beach of the river. However, his actions saved the lives of two of his shipmates. In recognition of his bravery, the US Navy posthumously awarded him the Navy Cross. A description of Gunner's Mate Ford's actions can be found here.


Construction and commissioning

''Ford'' was laid down by Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, San Pedro, California on 11 July 1983. It was launched on 23 June 1984; sponsored by Jonda McFarlane, wife of
National Security Advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...
Robert C. McFarlane Robert Carl "Bud" McFarlane (July 12, 1937 – May 12, 2022) was an American Marine Corps officer who served as National Security Advisor to President Ronald Reagan from 1983 to 1985. Within the Reagan administration, McFarlane was a leading arc ...
; and commissioned 29 June 1985. Ford was decommissioned 31 October 2013.


Service history

''Ford'' deployed on 28 November 1985, stopping first in San Diego to pick up Helicopter Anti-Submarine (Light) HSL 45 Detachment ONE, the embarking SH-60F Sea Hawk Detachment. After a five-hour stop ''Ford'' was underway to rendezvous with the Battle Group under the command of
Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...
Lyle Bien, Commander,
Carrier Group 7 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, ...
. The battle group then transited the Pacific Ocean from 2–20 December en route for Hong Kong. ''Ford'' participated in two ASW exercises with a US and a new state-of-the-art Diesel submarine of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. ''Ford'' remained part of the Carrier Group 7 battlegroup during the events of the
Third Taiwan Straits Crisis The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis or the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was the effect of a series of missile tests conducted by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the waters surrounding Taiwan ...
. The guided missile frigate completed her first deployment during a voyage to the Western Pacific and Middle East Force (17 August 1987 – 17 February 1988). She took part in Operation Earnest Will, an operation to maintain freedom of navigation within the Persian Gulf, that included renaming and reflagging 11 Kuwaiti
tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...
. During a deployment to the Western Pacific, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean (13 November 1990 – 13 May 1991), Ford fought in Operation Desert Shield/Operation Desert Storm (28 January–18 March 1991). She alternated plane guard and "shotgun" duties for aircraft carriers , , and during 34 continuous days of flight operations, and interdicted more than 90 merchant ships suspected of smuggling. From 13 December 1995 to 3 May 1996 ''Ford'' was assigned to the ''Nimitz'' Battle Group. Along with the aircraft carrier USS ''Nimitz'', ''Ford'' deployed to the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf. In March 1996, it patrolled the waters off Taiwan amid missile tests conducted by the Chinese in the area. It also cruised the Persian Gulf in support of Southern Watch prior to returning from deployment on 20 May 1996. On 16 February 2007, ''Ford'' was awarded the 2006
Battle "E" The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other units that win their battle effectiveness c ...
award. ''Ford'' completed a Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) deployment starting 4 May 2007 and returning home on 20 September 2007. ''Ford'' made port visits to Japan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Saipan, and Guam. Inactivated on 19 August 2013, ''Ford'' was decommissioned 31 October 2013. As of September 2016, the ship was in reserve at Bremerton and was slated to be disposed of as a target. 1 October 2019 it was used as a target during a SINKEX near Guam. A MK-48 ADCAP torpedo was used to sink the Ford.


Awards

* Navy Unit Citation with star *
Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...
with star * Navy E Ribbon (four awards) * Combat Action Ribbon * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with three stars *
Southwest Asia Service Medal The Southwest Asia Service Medal (SASM or SWASM) is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was created by order of President George H.W. Bush on March 12, 1991. The award is intended to recognize those military service members ...


References


External links

* *
navysite.de: USS ''Ford''




{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford (FFG-54) Ships built in Los Angeles 1984 ships Gulf War ships of the United States Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates of the United States Navy Ships sunk as targets