Oliver Hazard Perry-Class Frigate

The Oliver Hazard Perry class is a class of guided-missile frigates designed as general-purpose escorts for the United States Navy, named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry of the War of 1812, with the lead ship entering service in 1977 and the last American example decommissioned in 2015. Displacing around 4,100 tons fully loaded and capable of about 30 knots, the class was intended to protect amphibious groups, supply convoys and merchant shipping from aircraft and submarines while operating alongside larger carrier battle groups, and a total of 71 ships were eventually built. Beyond the 51 built for the United States Navy, the design was built for or transferred to several allied navies including Australia, Taiwan and Spain, making it one of the most widely used frigate designs among Western-aligned navies of the late twentieth century.