USS Dealey ( DE - 1006 ) USS " Dealey " ( DE - 1006 ) , the lead ship of her class of destroyer escort , was a ship of the United States Navy in commission from 1954 to 1972 and named for Commander Samuel D . Dealey ( 1906 - 1944 ) , who was awarded the Medal of Honor as commanding officer of the famous World War II submarine . History . " Dealey " was launched 8 November 1953 by Bath Iron Works Corporation , Bath , Maine , sponsored by Mrs . Samuel D . Dealey , widow of Commander Dealey , and commissioned on 3 June 1954 with Lieutenant Commander R . H . Rossell in command . Homeported at Naval Station Newport at Newport , Rhode Island , " Dealey " steamed on local exercises , cruised to Key West , Florida , to serve with the Fleet Sonar School , and joined in convoy exercises in the Caribbean during her first two - and - a - half years of service . On 4 January 1957 she departed Newport for a South American cruise , returning 21 March 1957 for exercises off the United States East Coast . North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) exercises in the Irish Sea in September and October 1957 took her to Plymouth , England , and Brest and Cherbourg , France . On 12 May 1958 " Dealey " sailed for the Mediterranean as flagship of Escort Squadron 10 ( CortRon 10 ) , screening the aircraft carrier to her duty with the United States Sixth Fleet . " Dealey " patrolled the eastern Mediterranean during the Lebanon crisis and returned to Newport on 7 October 1958 . On 3 February 1959 " Dealey " put to sea for Guantanamo Bay Naval Base , Cuba , and after exercises there transited the Panama Canal for calls at Buenaventura , Colombia ; Salinas , Ecuador ; Talara and Callao , Peru ; and Valparaíso and Antofagasta , Chile . During this cruise she exercised with the navies of all four countries . She returned to Newport on 20 April 1959 , and sailed on NATO exercises , calling at Derry , Northern Ireland ; Greenwich , England ; and Lisbon , Portugal , before returning to Newport on 11 October 1959 . She operated in the Narragansett Bay area for the remainder of 1959 . " Dealey " continued these operations , plus a cruise to the Caribbean and an amphibious exercise off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts , until 20 June 1960 when she began a short overhaul at the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn , New York . Returning to Newport on on 22 July 1960 , she prepared for distant duty . On 22 August 1960 , she sailed for exercises in the Caribbean , and continued on a voyage around South America . After visits to Trinidad , Venezuela , and Colombia , " Dealey " sailed through the Panama Canal , down the coast of South America , calling in Ecuador , Peru , and Chile , transited the Straits of Magellan , and turned northward , visiting Argentina , Uruguay , Brazil , and Trinidad . After riding out a wild storm , " Dealey " arrived home in Newport coated in ice on 13 December 1960 ; she passed the remainder of 1960 there . ROU " 18 De Julio " ( DE - 3 ) . " Dealey " was decommissioned on 28 July 1972 and simultaneously stricken from the Naval Vessel Register . She was transferred to the Uruguayan Navy the same day , and renamed ROU " 18 De Julio " ( DE - 3 ) , the third ship to commemorate the date of the adoption of Uruguays first constitution . Under the command of Germán Lariau , she arrived at Montevideo , Uruguay on 17 April 1973 . In 1981 , " 18 de Julio " , under the command of Commander Julio Lamarthee , rescued the crew of the merchant ship MS " Harp , " sunk in heavy storm in the South Atlantic Ocean . " 18 de Julio " was stricken and broken up for scrap during 1991 .