USS Samuel B . Roberts ( FFG - 58 ) USS " Samuel B . Roberts " ( FFG - 58 ) is one of the final ships in the United States Navy ' s " Oliver Hazard Perry " class of guided missile frigate s ( FFG ) . The ship was severely damaged by an Iranian mine in 1988 , leading U . S . forces to respond with Operation Praying Mantis . Commissioning and namesake . The frigate was named for Samuel B . Roberts , a Navy coxswain who was killed while evacuating the U . S . Marines during the battle of Guadalcanal in 1942 . Roberts was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross . FFG - 58 , the third U . S . ship to bear the coxswain ' s name , was launched in December 1984 by Bath Iron Works ( BIW ) and sponsored by the wife of Jack Yusen , a sailor who served in World War II and in the battle of Leyte Gulf on the former . Put in commission in April 1986 under the command of Commander Paul X . Rinn , the ship garnered numerous awards and commendations even before its first deployment . 1988 deployment and mine strike . The frigate deployed from its home port in Newport , Rhode Island in January 1988 , heading for the Persian Gulf to participate in Operation Earnest Will , the escort of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers during the Iran – Iraq War . The Roberts had arrived in the Persian Gulf and was heading for a refueling rendezvous on 14 April when the ship struck an M - 08 naval mine in the central Persian Gulf , an area it had safely transited a few days previously . The mine blew a 15 - foot ( 5 m ) hole in the hull , flooded the engine room , and knocked the two gas turbines from their mounts . The blast also broke the keel of the ship ; such structural damage is almost always fatal to most vessels . The crew fought fire and flooding for five hours and saved the ship . Among other steps , sailors cinched cables on the cracked superstructure in an effort to stabilize it . She used her auxiliary thrusters to get out of the mine field at 5kts . She never lost combat capability with her radars and Mk13 missile launcher . Ten sailors were medevac ed for injuries sustained in the blast , six returned to the " Roberts " in a day or so . Four burn victims were sent for treatment to a military hospital in Germany , and eventually to medical facilities in the United States . When U . S . divers recovered several unexploded mines , they found that their serial numbers matched the sequence on mines seized the previous September aboard an Iranian mine - layer named " Iran Ajr " . Four days later , U . S . forces retaliated against Iran in Operation Praying Mantis , a one - day campaign that was the largest American surface engagement since World War II . U . S . ships , aircraft , and troops destroyed two Iranian oil platforms used to control Iranian naval forces in the Persian Gulf , sank one Iranian frigate , damaged another , and sent at least three armed , high - speed boats to the bottom . The U . S . lost one Marine helicopter and its crew of two airmen in what appeared to be a night maneuver accident rather than a result of hostile operations . Repairs . On 27 June 1988 , " Roberts " was loaded onto the " Mighty Servant 2 " , a semi - submersible heavy lift ship owned by Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport and carried back to Newport for $ 1 . 3 million . The frigate arrived at BIW ' s Portland , Maine , yard on 6 October 1988 for repairs . The repair job was unique : the entire engine room was cut out of the hull , and a 315 - ton replacement module was jacked up and welded into place . She undocked 1 April 1989 for sea trials . The repairs were completed three weeks ahead of schedule at a cost of $ 89 . 5 million , $ 3 . 5 million less than expected . By comparison , , which was damaged by a moored mine during the 1991 Gulf War , was repaired for $ 24 million ; however , the cruiser was not directly struck by the mine and its displacement is nearly twice that of " Roberts " . The mine that nearly sank " Roberts " had an estimated cost of $ 1 , 500 . After 13 months of repairs , " Roberts " was returned to service in a 16 October 1989 ceremony . After repair . " Roberts " made her second deployment in 1990 for Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield . The frigate operated as part of the Red Sea Maritime Interception Force , an international force of ships that enforced U . N . sanctions against Iraq . The frigate ' s sailors boarded more than 100 merchant ships in efforts to prevent cargo shipments to or from Iraq . On 28 March 1991 , she returned to Newport . On 30 August 1991 , Joseph A . Sestak took command of " Roberts " , which was named the Atlantic Fleet ' s best surface combatant in the 1993 Battenberg Cup competition . " " Sammy B " " , as the ship is sometimes called , is homeported in Mayport , Florida . In 2011 , the ship won Destroyer Squadron 14 ' s " Battle E " award .