Name Flatley Laid down 13 November 1979 Construction started 11 November 1979 Length 136 m Beam 14 m | Ordered 28 February 1977 Acquired 8 May 1981 Launched 15 May 1980 Draft 6.71 m Builder Bath Iron Works | |
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Namesake Vice Admiral James H. Flatley Sponsored by Mrs. Dorothy M. Flatley, widow of Vice Admiral Flatley | ||
USS Flatley (FFG-21) was the thirteenth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates. She was the first ship of the U.S. Navy to be named for Vice Admiral James H. Flatley (1906–1958), a leading Naval Aviation tactician from World War II who flew the Grumman F4F Wildcat in the Battle of Coral Sea and subsequently commanded the VF-10 Grim Reapers taking them into combat for the first time.
Ordered from Bath Iron Works on 28 February 1977 as part of the FY77 program, Flatley's keel was laid down on 13 November 1979. She was launched on 15 May 1980, and commissioned on 20 June 1981. Decommissioned on 11 May 1996, she was sold to Turkey on 27 August 1998.
TCG Gemlik (F 492)
The ship immediately underwent conversion into a Turkish G-class frigate. She serves in the Turkish Navy as TCG Gemlik (F 492).