Name USS Glover Awarded 28 June 1961 Commissioned 13 November 1965 Launched 17 April 1965 Weight 3,481 tons Builder Bath Iron Works | Namesake John Glover Laid down 29 July 1963 Construction started 29 July 1963 Length 126 m Displacement 3.108 million kg | |
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Decommissioned 15 June 1990
Ship transferred to Military Sealift Command as a research vessel | ||
USS Glover (FF-1098) was a Garcia-class frigate originally modified for research use and commissioned as (AGDE-1) on 3 November 1965, with Commander William W. Wilson in command. Glover was laid down 29 July 1963 by the Bath Iron Works, in Bath, Maine and launched on 17 April 1965 with sponsors Mrs. William S. Pederson, Sr., and Mrs. Claude V. Signer, great-great-great-granddaughters of General John Glover.
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Fitted out with advanced sonar and antisubmarine weapons, Glover was designed to serve as an experimental research escort for developing and testing the latest antisubmarine weapons systems. As a research ship, she tested equipment designed to more readily detect and track enemy submarines, and evaluated tactics and procedures which were used on future classes of escorts. Capable of participating in offensive operations against submarines, she provided support for hunter killer groups, amphibious forces, and ocean convoys.
History
Glover joined the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in 1966 as a unit of Cruiser-Destroyer Forces and operated along the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean.
1966-1974
In 1966 Glover was modified in the Boston Naval Shipyard with electronic testing and data recording hardware and one of the first digital computers on a surface ship, a Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-8. She was also outftted with a prototype Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) for a time. In 1968 she re-entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for more modifications and the addition of a Variable Depth Sonar (VDS) device. In 1970, she made her first Atlantic crossing and Mediterranean cruise visiting ports in Spain, France, Italy, and Greece. While conducting sonar tests in the Mediterranean, she was observed very closely by Soviet Navy vessels. One almost rear ended the ship while attempting to obtain a close look at the Variable Depth sonar. In September 1974 she entered Boston Naval Shipyard for modifications.
Current Florida Governor Rick Scott was a radar operator on the USS Glover from 1971-1974.
1974-1994
Glover was redesignated (AGFF-1) in 1975, and redesignated a frigate (FF-1098) in 1979. Glover went through a major overhaul at South Boston Shipyard in 1988, getting a boiler refit and new sonar overhaul. She was decommissioned on 15 June 1990, transferred to MSC as a research vessel for EDO Corp and NUSC and reclassified as T-AGFF 1. She was scrapped at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in 1994.
Awards
In addition to the above, Glover received a letter of commendation from the Secretary of the Navy.