View source for USS Stephen W. Groves

{{Short description|Oliver Hazard Perry–class frigate}}
{{For|the ''John C. Butler''-class destroyer escort|USS Groves (DE-543)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
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|Ship image=[[File:US Navy 080713-N-1082Z-027 The guided-missile frigate USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29) steams through the Atlantic Ocean.jpg|300px|USS ''Stephen W. Groves'' (FFG-29)]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Stephen W. Groves'' in the Atlantic Ocean in 2008
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|2012}}
|Ship name=''Stephen W. Groves''
|Ship namesake=Ensign Stephen W. Groves
|Ship awarded=23 January 1978
|Ship builder=[[Bath Iron Works]], [[Bath, Maine]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down=16 September 1980
|Ship launched=4 April 1981
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|Ship commissioned=17 April 1982
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=24 February 2012
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|Ship homeport=[[Mayport Naval Station]]
|Ship identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Surface combatant type|Hull symbol]]:FFG-29
*[[International Code of Signals|Code letters]]:NSWG
*{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Sierra}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Golf}}
|Ship motto=*''Dirigo''
*(I Direct)
|Ship nickname=''Stevie G''
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate= Sold for scrap
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|Header caption=<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/07/0729.htm | title=USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29) |website=NavSource | access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref>
|Ship class={{Sclass|Oliver Hazard Perry|frigate}}
|Ship displacement={{OHP frigate displacement}}
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|Ship EW=[[AN/SLQ-32]]
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|Ship aircraft=2 × [[SH-60 Seahawk|SH-60 LAMPS III]] helicopters
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'''USS ''Stephen W. Groves'' (FFG-29)''', twenty-first ship of the {{sclass|Oliver Hazard Perry|frigate|0}} of [[guided missile frigate]]s, was named for Ensign Stephen W. Groves (1917–1942), a naval aviator who was posthumously awarded the [[Navy Cross (United States)|Navy Cross]] for his heroism at the [[Battle of Midway]] during World War II.

==Namesake==
Stephen William Groves was born on 29 January 1917 in [[Millinocket, Maine|Millinocket]], [[Maine]]. He graduated from [[Schenck High School]] in [[East Millinocket, Maine|East Millinocket]], Maine, and received a [[mechanical engineering]] degree from the [[University of Maine]] in 1939.

He joined the U.S. Navy in December 1940 and was [[Officer (armed forces)|commissioned]] in August 1941. He joined the [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|6}} in December 1941. During the [[Battle of Midway]], took off nine times from {{USS|Hornet|CV-8|6}}, his was one of six American fighters that fought off a vastly superior Japanese force that was trying to finish off the damaged carrier {{USS|Yorktown|CV-5|6}} 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 (United States)|Navy Cross]]. The [[destroyer escort]] [[USS Groves (DE-543)|USS ''Groves'' (DE-543)]] was named for him, but its construction was cancelled in 1944. The [[American Legion]] Post in East Millinocket is named the Feeney-Groves Post, partially in his memory.

==Construction and career==
Ordered from [[Bath Iron Works]], [[Bath, Maine]], on 23 January 1978 as part of the FY78 program, ''Stephen W. Groves'' was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 16 September 1980, [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 4 April 1981, and [[Ship commissioning|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]], {{USS|Groves|DE-543|3}}, was canceled in 1944 prior to completion. Assigned to [[Destroyer Squadron 14]] and home-ported at [[Naval Station Mayport]], Florida.

During her maiden voyage, ''Groves'' was assigned to units in support of [[United States Marine Corps|US Marines]] stationed at the airport in [[Beirut]], Lebanon.  Arriving shortly after the [[1983 Beirut barracks bombings|barracks bombing in 1983]], she was assigned to host the helicopter detachment from {{USS|New Jersey|BB-62|6}}, enabling ''New Jersey'' to utilize all three of her turrets for attacking targets in the [[Beqaa Valley]].  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 {{USS|Stark|FFG-31|2}} was [[USS Stark incident|struck by two missiles]] from an Iraqi fighter jet, and assisted ''Stark'' in her return to Mayport, Florida.{{Citation needed|reason=no source for involvement with the Stark incident|date=March 2014}}

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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=10614 |title=USS Stephen W. Groves Chokes Drug Smuggling Operation |access-date=22 June 2018 |archive-date=23 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623032854/http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=10614 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 28 August 2005, she sailed from her then-[[home port]] of [[Pascagoula, Mississippi|Pascagoula]], Mississippi, along with [[sister ship]] {{USS|John L. Hall|FFG-32|2}}, under threat from [[Hurricane Katrina]].

Deployed to the Indian Ocean, on 10 May 2011 she intercepted the Taiwanese [[longliner]] ''Jih Chun Tsai 68'', which had been hijacked by [[Piracy off the coast of Somalia|Somalian pirates]]. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cusnc.navy.mil/articles/2011/082.html |title=C5F Statement Regarding Jih Chun Tsai 68 Command Investigation |website=www.cusnc.navy.mil |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808205314/http://www.cusnc.navy.mil/articles/2011/082.html |archive-date=2011-08-08}} </ref> She was decommissioned on 24 February 2012 and was moved to [[Brownsville, Texas]] for deconstruction and recycling to be completed in 2021. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://us.emrgroup.com/find-out-more/latest-news/USS-stephen-w-groves-makes-her-final-journey-to-brownville-texas | title=Historic USS Stephen W. Groves makes her final journey to Brownsville, Texas }}</ref>

[[File:Steven W. Groves.jpg|center|250px|thumb|''Stephen W. Groves'' as seen at sunset in Key West on 22 July 2007.]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Naval Vessel Register|hull=FFG-29}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG-29)}}
* {{Official website|http://www.groves.navy.mil/|USS ''Stephen W. Groves'' official website}}
* {{navsource|07/0729|USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG-29)}}
* [http://navysite.de/ffg/FFG29.HTM  navysite.de: USS ''Stephen W. Groves'']
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/frigates/pages/stephen_w_groves_ffg29_page_1.htm MaritimeQuest USS ''Stephen W. Groves'' FFG-29 pages]

{{Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate}}

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