USS Samuel Eliot Morison (FFG 13)

- formerly SAMUEL E. MORISON -
- decommissioned -

USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON was one of the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY class guided missile frigates and the first ship in the Navy to bear the name. Decommissioned on April 11, 2002, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON was turned over to the Turkish Navy as part of the US foreign military sales program the same day and was recommissioned as TCG GÖKOVA (F 496).

General Characteristics:	Keel Laid: December 4, 1978
	Launched: July 14, 1979
	Commissioned: October 11, 1980
	Decommissioned: April 11, 2002
	Builder: Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
	Propulsion system: two General Electric LM 2500 gas turbines, two 350 Horsepower Electric Drive Auxiliary Propulsion Units
	Propellers: one
	Blades on each Propeller: five
	Length: 445 feet (133.5 meters)
	Beam: 45 feet (13.5 meters)
	Draft: 24,6 feet (7.5 meters)
	Displacement: 4,100 tons
	Speed: 28+ knots
	Aircraft: one SH-2F (LAMPS 1)
	Armament: one Mk 13 guided missile launcher (36 Standard (MR) and 4 Harpoon missiles), one Mk 75 76mm/62 caliber rapid firing gun, MK 32 ASW torpedo tubes (two triple mounts), one Phalanx CIWS
	Crew: 17 Officers and 198 Enlisted

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

go to the end of the page

Click here to see which USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

go to the end of the page

USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON Cruise Books:

Mediterranean Cruise Book 1982

go to the end of the page

USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON in the News:

June 21, 2000 - USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON seizes five tons of narcotics in two weeks

go to the end of the page

About the frigate's name, about Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison:

Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, USNR (1887 - 1976) was one of the nation's most distinguished naval historians. His legacy to his country comprises over forty books and more than a hundred articles, including The Oxford History of the United States (1927); Growth of the American Republic (with) Commander (1930); The European Discovery of America (Southern and Northern voyages 1971, 1974). Born in Boston, and a faculty member of Harvard University for more than half a century, he was the recipient of many honors. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences awarded him the Emerson-Thoreau Medal in 1961 for distinguished literary achievement, and he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964 as one of the great Americans whose life and works have made freedom stronger for all of us in our time.

But he was, first and always, a Sailor. Before he wrote the biography of Christopher Columbus, Admiral of the Ocean Sea in 1942, he and several friends purchased and fitted out the barkentine "Capitana" to sail the ocean in Columbus' wake, and view island and coasts as he must have seen them. This book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize.

The way was now clear for another seagoing project that was to become the most extensive and difficult of any in Morison's career - The History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II (fifteen volumes). President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had a lifelong taste for naval history, after reading some of "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," accepted Morison's request to be the Navy's Historian. In May 1942, the professor was commissioned a Lieutenant Commander in the Naval Reserve, and given a set of orders that permitted him to move about the world at will. But having such a set of orders is one thing, and getting to a good vantage point to observe an action whose planning has been cloaked in deep secrecy is another. That he was invariably in the right place at the right time for the next three and a half years, was due more to his qualities as a man and a Sailor, than to his formal credentials. He later recalled the problem thus:

"As my position in the Navy was unprecedented, I had to move warily and gingerly in order to obtain cooperation from those who were doing the fighting. Amusingly enough, their initial suspicions of a 'long-haired professor in uniform' were dissolved by a perusal of my "Admiral of the Ocean Sea," which told them that I was a Sailor before I became a professor, and thus exorcised the academic curse. So, thanks to Columbus, the Navy accepted me, and with many of its members I made warm friendships, which even survived when I felt obliged to write about some of their mistakes."

After his death in 1976, one of his daughters, Emily Morison Beck, edited a highly readable treasury of the best and most representative of his writings. She says, "I was fortunate that my father lived long enough to examine and approve the final choices, after discarding a number of pieces as 'old hat,' 'hackneyed,' or 'of little interest to the general reader.'" Therefore, "Sailor-Historian" is aimed to give pleasure to the general reader, who will find chapters from favorite books and prized articles, as well as forgotten pieces never before printed in a book.

President Lyndon B. Johnson remarked: "Scholar and Sailor, this amphibious historian has combined a life of action and literary craftsmanship to lead two generations of Americans on countless voyages of discovery." As a naval historian on active duty in World War II, he earned seven engagement stars and a Legion of Merit, while serving in combat areas of the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Pacific.

go to the end of the page

USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON History:

SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON was laid down on 4 December 1978, at Bath, Maine, by Bath Iron Works Corp.; launched on 14 July 1979 and sponsored by Elizabeth Morison Spingarn, the eldest daughter of the late Rear Adm. Morison; and placed "In Commission" on 22 September 1980 at Bath, Cmdr. Larry J. Andrew, in command. SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON then had her formal commissioning ceremony on 11 October 1980, at Constitution Park, Boston, Mass.

Following her commissioning, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON steamed to Northeast Harbor, Mount Desert Island, Maine, where over 250 family and friends of the Morison Family were embarked for a tour of the ship. Shortly afterward the guided missile frigate reported to her first homeport at Naval Station (NS) Mayport, Fla., arriving there on 20 October 1980.

Throughout the early 1980s, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON aided in the U.S. Navy's mission to meet national and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commitments in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. From 21 January to 10 February 1982, she participated in Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPUTEX) 2-82.

The following month the guided missile frigate set out on her first deployment, getting underway on 17 March 1982 and steaming for the Mediterranean Sea with the Mediterranean 4-82 Battle Group. While operating in those waters she participated in the Royal Navy (RN) exercise SPRINGTRAIN 1-82 and continued maneuvering with the British task force until the RN fleet departed the area in response to the Argentinean invasion of the Falkland Islands.

During her time deployed to the Mediterranean, in the spring of 1982, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON also joined company with CLARK (FFG 11), while transiting to a port in Italy. Their subsequent meeting represented one of the first times that two PERRY-class ships operated simultaneously in the region. While accompanying the destroyer tender PUGET SOUND (AD 38), SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON participated in the multi-faceted battlegroup exercise Distant Drum steaming in the vicinity in the western and central Mediterranean. She also took part in a month long NATO On Call Force Mediterranean exercise.

On 27 June 1982, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON steamed to the eastern Mediterranean to commence operations with Task Force 61 and 63 - screening ships off the coast of Lebanon. While performing these duties she assisted the Cyprus Coast Guard in rescuing the crew of the yacht ANTHONY. SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON quit the Mediterranean on 22 July and eventually arrived back at her homeport on 6 August.

In early February 1984, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON participated in Readiexercise 2-84 and then a few months later on 2 April, she departed Mayport for her second deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, steaming in company with the aircraft carrier SARATOGA (CV 60) Battle Group. SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON later passed through the Suez Canal on 19 April and as of 1 May began patrol duties in the Persian Gulf as a member of the U.S. Middle East Force. During her time there, the ship's command history reports that "continued hostilities between Iran and Iraq resulted in several extremely tense situations".

On 29 May 1984, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON assisted in the emergency medical evacuation of a critically injured seaman from the Swedish merchant vessel SEA SAGA. Several months later, the warship participated in the NATO exercise Display Determination '84. She later arrived back at her homeport on 20 October.

In late March 1985, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON got underway for the Caribbean Sea and participated in a number of naval exercises off the coast of Cuba. During her time in the area, on 13 April, she was called on to serve as an escort for CORAL SEA (CV 43), which had been involved in an at sea collision two nights prior with Ecuadorian tanker NAPO. SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON accompanied the carrier most of the way back to Norfolk, Va.

SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON entered Charleston, S.C., on 1 July 1986, marking the beginning of both her transition into the Naval Reserve Force, as well as the commencement of her new homeport assignment in that locality. A crew of selected Naval Reserve members were later assigned and then integrated with the ship's active duty sailors.

With the escalation of the war on drugs in the mid to late 1980s, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON operated numerous times in joint interagency task force operations with the U.S. Coast Guard in order to support counter narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. While patrolling in this capacity SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON closely monitored maritime traffic along the northern coast of South America, as well as numerous other small islands in the Caribbean Sea, consequently intercepting and boarding numerous suspected drug trafficking vessels. In total, she contributed to the seizure of 5,400 pounds of cocaine.

On 31 May 1988, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON voyaged to Northern Europe for a midshipman training cruise in the Netherlands. The warship returned to her homeport at Charleston on 24 July. On 24 August, her homeport changed back to Mayport. Just four days later on 28 August 1988, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON stood out with the FORRESTAL (CV 59) Battle Group participating in exercise Ocean Safari 1987, which brought her to the North Sea and Arctic Circle. She later returned to Mayport on 24 November. The following year she continued participating in numerous law enforcement operations in the Caribbean but did not conduct any major deployments.

SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON turned her prow seaward on 19 June 1991, for a cruise of the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. On 20 May, while en route to the Pacific and just off the coast of Panama, she stopped the fishing vessel ENDEAVOR I. An examination of the vessel and the surrounding water revealed several unidentified bales, which were later found to contain 408 pounds of cocaine.

From 16 June to 25 August 1992, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON conducted her first Great Lakes Cruise. The following year she spent four months in the Caribbean as part of an international armada deployed to enforce a United Nations embargo of Haiti. Between 18 and 23 January 1993, the warship participated in Operation Able Manner, where she patrolled the waters between Haiti and Cuba in order to participate in the interdiction of Haitian refugee boats. SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON then steamed south as a part of Combined Joint Task Group 4.1 (24 January-11 February 1993) to support counter narcotics operations. With her eventual return to port on 5 May, she commenced a lengthy Selected Reserve Availability Period. Her crew's dedication and successful completion of numerous operations during the year earned the warship her first Battle Efficiency Award.

According to SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON's command history, the warship had "the unique opportunity to show its stuff during the COMDESRON Six MISSILEX '94", wherein she operated with six of the eight Naval Reserve Force frigates assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 6 (17-24 February 1994). The exercise included "formation maneuvering, numerous seamanship evolutions, communication drills and the infinitely popular Quick Draws". In late spring (25 May-15 June), the warship participated in the "action packed two week", COMPUTEX JTG 1-95, operating with the DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) Battle Group. Upon completion of the exercise SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON became one of only three Reserve ships to have participated in a complete COMPUTEX.

SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON deployed to Haiti (29 September-2 October 1994) in support of Operation Maintain Democracy. In the course of those operations, she patrolled the Florida straits in response to the mass migration of Cuban immigrants. The warship received approximately 700 Cuban refugees and transported them to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

On 19 June 1995, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON set out on a Great Lakes cruise in which she visited 22 American and Canadian cities and hosted over 97,000 visitors, which her command history observed, "set new visitation records for an American naval vessel". She returned to her homeport on 9 September.

In 1996, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON completed a Tailored Ship's Training Availability, Cruise Missile Qualification and deployed twice. From 14 March to 2 May 1996, the warship deployed to the western Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean in support of counter narcotics operations. On 24 May, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON steamed for the Northern Atlantic Ocean and Baltic Sea in order to participate in Baltic Operations '96. In the course of the deployment, she operated with naval forces from 14 different nations including Russia, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland and Latvia. She returned to her homeport on 22 August and in October began a Selected Restricted Availability Period that lasted through December.

The following year, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON underwent an inspection by the Board of Inspection and Survey, a Torpedo Readiness Exercise, a Command Assessment of Readiness and Training, a Cruise Missile Tactical Qualification and participated in Joint Task Force Exercise '97.

On 27 May 1998, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON got underway for Great Lakes Cruise '98. She eventually returned to her homeport on 16 September.

In 1999, the warship went on another two-month counter narcotics deployment and completed an Inter-Deployment Training Cycle. Operations in 2000 mirrored those of 1999 with an added counter narcotics cruise to the Pacific (3 April-23 June) followed by a Restricted Availability Period.

In March 2001, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON participated in a joint fleet exercise and then in April the DesRon 14 Group Sail 01-03. Underway again on 24 July, as a member of a NATO Immediate Reaction Force, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON participated in war games and operated extensively with naval forces from Great Britain, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, France, Turkey, Germany and Belgium. After returning stateside, the warship supported the guided missile destroyer WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81) during the ship's shock trials at NS Newport, R.I.

As of November 2001, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON was deployed as part of Standing Naval Force Atlantic off the coast of Spain and undergoing a maintenance period in Rota, Spain. Upon the completion of her maintenance in December, Samuel Eliot Morison returned to her homeport. During the homecoming voyage, her commanding officer received notification that the warship had been designated for sale to the government of Turkey. Thus, she returned home from her final deployment on 21 December 2001.

After 21 years of service, SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON was decommissioned on Wednesday, 10 April 2002 at Pier 14, NS Norfolk, Va. She was stricken from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register on 23 July 2002. On the same day of de-commissioning the ex-SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON was transferred to the Turkish Navy and renamed GOKOVA (F 496).

go to the end of the page

Homeports of USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at Boston, Mass.
1980 - 1986	Mayport, Fla.
1986 - 1988	Charleston, SC.
1988 - 2002	Mayport, Fla.

go to the end of the page

USS SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON Image Gallery:

After decommissioning, the SAMUEL ELIOT MORISON was transferred to the Turkish Navy where she was recommissioned as TCG GÖKOVA (F 496). The photos below were taken by Philip Petersen and me and show TCG GÖKOVA at Naval Base Faslane, UK, on April 11, 2015, and one day later when she departed for exercise Joint Warrior 151. The ship has been extensively modernized: The old AN/SPS-49 antenna was replaced by the advanced SMART-S Mk-2 3D air search radar and an 8-cell Mk-41 VLS for 32 ESSM was added in front of the Mk-13 missile launcher. Additionally, a new digital combat management system called GENESIS and a new long range sonar were installed.