USS Crommelin ( FFG - 37 ) USS " Crommelin " ( FFG - 37 ) , twenty - eighth ship of the " Oliver Hazard Perry " - class of guided - missile frigate s , was named for five brothers : Vice Admiral Henry Crommelin ( 1904 – 1971 ) , Rear Admiral John G . Crommelin ( died 1997 ) , Captain Quentin Crommelin ( died 1997 ) , Commander Charles Crommelin ( died 1945 ) , and Lieutenant Commander Richard Crommelin ( 1917 – 1945 ) . " Crommelin " ( FFG - 37 ) is the first ship of that name in the United States Navy . Ordered from Todd Pacific Shipyard , Seattle , Washington on 27 April 1979 as part of the Fiscal year 1979 program , " Crommelin " was laid down on 30 May 1980 , launched on 2 July 1981 , and commissioned on 18 June 1983 . After three decades of service , the Crommelin was decommissioned in a ceremony at Pearl Harbor , October 26 , 2012 . It had rescued 96 people from the high seas and seized roughly $ 1 . 25 billion worth of cocaine over its lifetime . Operational history . " Crommelin " was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 9 and reached its homeport of Long Beach , California in August 1983 . Underway from Long Beach on 1 October 1984 to join Battle Group ' DELTA ' for COMPTUEX 85 - 1 , HSL - 41 , Detachment ONE embarked . On 14 January 1985 , the ship was underway from San Diego for READIEX 85 - 1 , the second major fleet exercise for LAMPS MK III , Helicopter Anti - Submarine Squadron Light , Four Three , Detachment ONE embarked USS Crommelin . At sea commander of Battle Group DELTA , Rear Admiral Leon A Edney , USN , Commander Carrier Group One , embarked aboard . Later that year Battle Group Delta , the " Constellation " Battle Group , deployed to the western Pacific and Indian Oceans . During this deployment , " Crommelin " became the first FFG to successfully engage a high - speed , maneuvering target with missiles . Just before reaching Naval Station Subic Bay , the Philippines , " Crommelin " changed command in the presence of Commander , Carrier Group One , and Commander , Destroyer Squadron 17 . It was also the first ship to complete an operational deployment with the LAMPS MK III weapon system . In June 1986 , " Crommelin " received the first Chief of Naval Operations LAMPS MK III Safety Award . In the summer of 1986 , " Crommelin " was awarded every departmental and divisional excellence award and won its first Navy " E " award . In 1987 , " Crommelin " was assigned to Destroyer Squadron 13 and began an accelerated deployment with the " Constellation " battle group . " Crommelin " was the first FFG to deploy with two LAMPS MK III helicopters embarked . " Crommelin " was assigned to Commander , Middle East Force from 1 July to 25 August 1987 , earning a Meritorious Unit Commendation and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for the convoy escort of the first five reflagged Kuwaiti tankers in Operation Earnest Will . On 1 January 1988 , " Crommelin " was reassigned to Destroyer Squadron 9 , and on 6 March 1988 , the ship received a second consecutive Navy " E " award . Upon completion of its second availability period at Todd Pacific Shipyard , " Crommelin " was deployed in March 1989 again to the Persian Gulf . In October 1990 Crommelin was deployed in support of joint service , counternarcotics operations in the Central , South American , and Caribbean theater . " Crommelin " was awarded the Joint Services Meritorious Unit Award for its performance during this deployment . In 1991 , " Crommelin " received the Navy " E " as well as its fifth consecutive warfare excellence awards for anti - air and anti - surface warfare , navigation and seamanship , damage control , engineering , and communications . On 1 September 1991 , " Crommelin " shifted homeports to Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , and joined Destroyer Squadron 31 . " Crommelin " completed a second four - month counternarcotics deployment in the Central , South American and Caribbean theater from November 1992 to March 1993 . Upon return to its homeport of Pearl Harbor , Hawaii , " Crommelin " was assigned to Commander Naval Surface Group , Middle Pacific . From 6 July to 14 December 1994 , " Crommelin " was assigned to the battle group in the Western Pacific for Korean contingency operations . There , " Crommelin " received the Meritorious Unit Commendation Award for the prosecution of a Chinese Han class submarine . Upon completion of this deployment she underwent dry - docking SRA - 5 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard , following which she began the cycle for her 1996 Western Pacific deployment with the battle group . After a three month work up cycle , " Crommelin " deployed with the " Carl Vinson " battle group on 20 May 1996 . This deployment took " Crommelin " and her crew back to the Persian Gulf for a variety of missions , including escorting ships through the Straits of Hormuz , patrolling the Northern Persian Gulf , and conducting maritime interception operations . " Crommelin " returned from that deployment on 20 November 1996 . Following WESTPAC 96 , " Crommelin " entered SRA - 6 from January to March 1997 . " Crommelin " received upgrades to all major weapons systems as well as the engineering plant . Following this availability , " Crommelin " and her crew began yet another work up cycle to prepare for her fifth deployment to the Persian Gulf as part of the U . S . 5th Fleet . " Crommelin " departed Pearl Harbor on 21 February 1998 . During this deployment " Crommelin " distinguished herself by setting a Fifth Fleet record for number of vessels boarded and tonnage of illegal Iraqi petroleum seized and diverted . " Crommelin " completed a demanding nine week private sector SRA in early 1999 , where she made major repairs and upgrades throughout the ship . Immediately following the SRA , " Crommelin " aggressively entered the inter - deployment training cycle and proceeded to set numerous records throughout her training . Chief among these was condensing what is normally a twelve week training cycle into nine weeks . Other achievements were completing cruise missile test qualification on the first day of training and completing engineering qualification with 100 % of drills and 28 of 29 evolutions graded as " satisfactory " . With her training cycle complete , " Crommelin " departed Pearl Harbor on 24 August 1999 for a three month deployment to the Eastern Pacific in support of counter narcotics operations . During this deployment , " Crommelin " steamed 77 of 92 days , flew more than 350 mishap - free SH - 60B flight hours , and was a key player in four major cocaine seizures . Upon her return to Pearl Harbor on 24 November 1999 , " Crommelin " immediately began the work up cycle for her next deployment with battle group in August 2000 . In February 2000 , " Crommelin " was awarded the Battle " E " for Destroyer Squadron 31 as well as each of the four command excellence awards . Other accomplishments included the 1999 Commander in Chief , Pacific Fleet Retention Excellence Award , 1999 , Commander Naval Surface Forces Pacific ( COMNAVSURFPAC ) Surface Ship Safety Award , COMNAVSURFPAC Self - Sufficient Ship of the Quarter Award ( Q4 FY99 and Q2 FY00 ) , and the distinction of being the first Pearl Harbor ship to hoist the Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist Pennant . During WESTPAC 2000 , eighteen non - compliant vessels were boarded by " Crommelin " ' s Visit Board Search and Seizure Team , twelve were found to be smuggling petroleum products from Iraq and diverted to friendly ports for disposal of the ships and their illegal cargo . On the eve of the homecoming from deployment , " Crommelin " received her second consecutive Battle Efficiency Award . From 18 April 2001 to June 2001 , " Crommelin " was dry - docked at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for Dry - dock Selected Restricted Availability . In January 2002 " Crommelin " received the 2001 COMNAVSURFPAC Surface Ship Safety Award . From 12 May 2004 to 12 November 2004 , " Crommelin " was deployed to the SOUTHPAC AOR with Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment ( LEDET ) 105 in support of the war on drugs , conducting counter - narcotics operations in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea . In that time , she became the most second most successful counter - narcotics ship with the seizure of of cocaine , including 26 , 369 pounds from the Belize - flagged vessel San Jose on 23 September 2004 . She held that record until the bust of the Panamanian flagged motor vessel Gatun off the coast of Panama in March 2007 , carrying approximately of cocaine . During this deployment , America ' s Battle Frigate also participated in exercises UNITAS - 04 and PANAMAX - 04 , training the Navies and Coast Guards of various Central - and South - American countries in counter - narcotics and counter - terrorism tactics at sea . From 5 May 2006 to 15 September 2006 , she participated in CARAT - 06 , along with , , and . In that time , Task Group 73 . 1 trained the Navies of several Southeast Asian countries in Maritime boarding and counter - terrorism tactics . Upon returning to home port , she entered an intensive dry dock period and as of May 2007 , is preparing herself for continued operations in the wars on terror and drugs . In November 2007 Crommelin Deployed to the Southcom AOR insupport of Counter . On Christmas Eve 2007 Crommelin Stopped a ' go - fast ' drug runner near the coast of Columbia carrying 5 , 200 lbs of cocaine . The Crommelin boarded close to 20 vessels involved in drug running operations during her 7 month deployment . Nearing the end of the deployment the Crommelin was awaiting the arrival of the USS George Washington into the Eastern Pacific AOR for a refueling operation . As the 2 ships came alongside each other the GW had a major fire break out onboard damaging 92 spaces on board as well as shutting down part of their nuclear reactor . She quickly made for San Diego to conduct repairs while the Crommelin was left short on food and even lower on fuel . The Crommelin had to make an emergency stop in Mexico to refuel both food and fuel to make it back to Hawaii in June 2008 . After a successful deployment Crommelin entered dry dock in October 2008 for repairs to keep her operational throughout the next decade . In 2010 , Crommelin was again awarded the Battle " E " for Destroyer Squadron 31 . USS Crommelin was decommissioned ahead of schedule at a ceremony in Pearl Harbor , October 26 , 2012 . Ship ' s crest . The colors blue and gold are traditionally associated with the U . S . Navy . The three interlaced chevronels represent the Crommelin brothers after whom the ship is named . The two winged chevronels refer to the air exploits of Lieutenant Commander Richard and Commander Charles Crommelin who served and died as Naval aviator s . The central chevronel over which an anchor is placed alludes to the surface ship career of Vice Admiral Henry Crommelin , the oldest and first to serve of the brothers . The linked chevronels suggest the strength and determination of U . S . naval forces in their efforts to regain enemy held territories of the Pacific Ocean throughout World War II . It was in this effort that the Crommelin brothers so distinguished themselves . The rampant sea lion is a symbolic creature associated with valor at sea ; its head and mane are scarlet for courage and its body is gold for zeal and achievement . The scarlet sword recalls the fierce conflict of the Pacific war . The wings and silver collar with blue cross signify some of the decorations the brothers received , such as the Navy Cross , the Silver Star and the Distinguished Flying Cross .