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USS Thomas C. Hart (FF 1092)

USS THOMAS C. HART was the 41^st KNOX - class frigate. Decommissioned on August 30, 1993, the ship was subsequently leased to Turkey where it was recommissioned as ZAFER. Stricken from the Navy list on January 11, 1995, the THOMAS C. HART was finally purchased by Turkey on February 22, 2002.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS THOMAS C. HART. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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• Click here to see which USS THOMAS C. HART memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS THOMAS C. HART Cruise Books:

• Mediterranean Cruise Book 1986

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About the Ship's Namesake:

Thomas Charles Hart was a United States Navy Admiral whose career extended from the Spanish-American War through World War II. He was born on June 12, 1877, in Genesee County, Michigan, and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1897. His early service included duty in USS MASSACHUSETTS during the Spanish-American War and later assignments connected with gunnery, submarines, and fleet command.

Hart became closely associated with the development of the Navy's submarine force. During World War I, he served in submarine-related posts, and after the war he held senior assignments that included command of submarines and later duty as Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy from 1931 to 1934. He was promoted to admiral and appointed Commander in Chief, U.S. Asiatic Fleet, on July 25, 1939.

When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Hart commanded the Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines and then under the short-lived American-British-Dutch-Australian command structure during the early Japanese advance through Southeast Asia. After retiring from active naval service, he briefly served as a United States Senator from Connecticut from 1945 to 1946. Admiral Hart died on July 4, 1971, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

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USS THOMAS C. HART History:

USS THOMAS C. HART (DE 1092), later USS THOMAS C. HART (FF 1092), was a KNOX-class ocean escort and frigate named for Admiral Thomas Charles Hart, a United States Navy officer who commanded the Asiatic Fleet at the beginning of the Pacific War. She was the first United States Navy ship to bear his name. The contract for her construction was awarded to Avondale Shipyards on August 25, 1966. USS THOMAS C. HART was laid down at Avondale Shipyards at Westwego, Louisiana, on October 8, 1971, launched on August 12, 1972, and sponsored by Mrs. Reginald Bragonier, Admiral Hart's eldest granddaughter. She was commissioned at Boston Naval Shipyard on July 28, 1973, with Lieutenant Commander Ronald J. Forst in command. She was the last combatant ship commissioned at Boston Naval Shipyard.

After commissioning, USS THOMAS C. HART conducted sea trials and early operations off the United States East Coast, then proceeded to Norfolk, Virginia, which became her principal home port. Her first months were devoted to the normal transition from a newly commissioned ship to an operational unit: shakedown, trials, training, correction of deficiencies, and integration into the Atlantic Fleet. She conducted shakedown training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a standard and demanding training location for Atlantic Fleet ships. After that initial period, she returned to Norfolk Naval Shipyard on February 1, 1974, for an important structural conversion. This work altered the after superstructure and improved the ship's aviation facilities for LAMPS operations, a major element of the KNOX-class antisubmarine concept. Following the shipyard period, USS THOMAS C. HART conducted post-repair trials off the Virginia Capes and resumed training.

During 1974, USS THOMAS C. HART continued the process of becoming fully operational. She operated in the Caribbean for weapons-system tests and antisubmarine exercises, called at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, returned to Guantanamo Bay, and completed naval gunfire support qualification at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. She also made a three-day visit to Bermuda. On September 3, 1974, while at Port Royal Bay, she got underway to avoid a tropical storm that later became Hurricane Delores and arrived back at Norfolk on September 5, 1974. In October 1974, she carried out type training in Narragansett Bay and qualified for a certificate for unrestricted operations. On November 18, 1974, USS THOMAS C. HART got underway for Composite Task Unit Exercise 4-75 with Captain W. R. Smedberg IV, Commander Destroyer Squadron 10, and his staff embarked. That nine-day exercise provided intensive fleet training and helped certify the ship for broader Atlantic Fleet service. On December 11, 1974, USS THOMAS C. HART passed her Nuclear Weapons Acceptance Inspection and became nuclear-weapons qualified, a significant but routine element of Cold War readiness for ships assigned to certain escort and fleet missions.

In early 1975, USS THOMAS C. HART prepared for her first overseas deployment. She departed for the Mediterranean on June 16, 1975. That deployment placed her in the United States Sixth Fleet operating area at a time when the Mediterranean remained one of the principal maritime theaters of the Cold War. Soviet naval activity, the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, political instability in the eastern Mediterranean, and United States commitments to NATO allies all shaped the operating environment. USS THOMAS C. HART operated with USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) and other escorts during the deployment. On July 1, 1975, she was reclassified from DE 1092 to FF 1092 during the Navy-wide redesignation of ships. On August 14, 1975, USS THOMAS C. HART was photographed operating with Task Force 60 while she and USS JOHN F. KENNEDY refueled from USS TRUCKEE (AO 147). During this first Mediterranean deployment, she also made port visits in company with USS PHARRIS (FF 1094). She returned to Norfolk on December 22, 1975.

During the first half of 1976, USS THOMAS C. HART remained active in fleet exercises. From March 6 to March 26, 1976, she participated in Exercise Safe Pass out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, a complex NATO exercise that tested allied maritime operations in the North Atlantic. From May 13 to May 18, 1976, she took part in Exercise Solid Shield off the Carolinas, supporting a full amphibious landing on Onslow Beach.

On July 9, 1976, USS THOMAS C. HART began UNITAS XVII. UNITAS was the long-running annual exercise series between the United States Navy and South American navies, designed to improve communications, seamanship, antisubmarine procedures, tactical coordination, and political-military maritime cooperation in the Western Hemisphere. Over about eighteen weeks, USS THOMAS C. HART circumnavigated South America and operated with host-nation ships from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. The deployment required long-range steaming, coordination with multiple navies, and operations in both Atlantic and Pacific waters. She returned to Norfolk on November 21, 1976, and spent the remainder of the year in post-deployment and holiday leave and upkeep.

Early 1977 was devoted to maintenance, alteration, testing, and preparations for renewed overseas operations. During this period, Harpoon antiship missile capability was installed, part of the broader effort to give KNOX-class frigates more effective surface-warfare reach in addition to their original antisubmarine role. Commander John D. Rohrbough had commanded the ship after Commander Forst, and on April 14, 1977, Commander John F. Bennett Jr. relieved Commander Rohrbough as commanding officer during a change-of-command ceremony aboard USS THOMAS C. HART. In 1977, the ship also appears in reports connected with a Norfolk harbor incident in which high winds caused USS CALIFORNIA (CGN 36) to part lines and drift into USS THOMAS C. HART.

USS THOMAS C. HART departed the continental United States on September 27, 1977, for her second Mediterranean deployment. During the next seven months, she operated with the Sixth Fleet. The deployment's port calls included Rota, Spain; Alexandria, Egypt; Istanbul, Turkey; Piraeus, Greece; Venice, Gaeta, and Naples, Italy; Majorca; Valencia, Spain; and a further call at Rota before returning home. This itinerary reflected the geographic spread of Sixth Fleet operations from the western Mediterranean through the eastern Mediterranean and into the approaches of the Black Sea. The Alexandria and Istanbul visits also occurred in regions where Cold War politics, Middle Eastern diplomacy, and access to strategic sea routes were closely connected. USS THOMAS C. HART returned to Norfolk on April 26, 1978.

After post-deployment standdown, USS THOMAS C. HART supported CORTRAMID 78 from mid-June through early July 1978, providing midshipmen with exposure to surface warfare and shipboard operations. In late September 1978, her home port shifted to Philadelphia for a regular overhaul. On October 26, 1978, she entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. This overhaul carried her into 1979 and represented the first major industrial reset after several years of deployments, exercises, and intensive training.

Captain John D. Pearson became commanding officer in 1979, following the period commanded by Commander Bennett. 1979 was dominated by completion of overhaul-related work, return to operational condition, and preparations for renewed overseas service. The strategic environment was changing rapidly: the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the seizure of American hostages in Tehran in November 1979, and regional instability around the Persian Gulf increased the importance of United States naval presence in the Indian Ocean and Middle Eastern waters.

In 1980, USS THOMAS C. HART deployed into the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf environment. She departed on February 25, 1980, in connection with Operation Safe Pass, encountered heavy weather in the Atlantic in early March, and then continued through the wider Sixth Fleet and Middle East operating pattern. During the spring of 1980, she was photographed entering Djibouti before Persian Gulf operations. This operating pattern placed her in waters that were becoming increasingly important for United States policy. The Iranian hostage crisis, the instability following the Iranian Revolution, Soviet activity in and around the Indian Ocean, and the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War in September 1980 all made the region a central focus for American naval operations.

In June 1981, Commander F. Richard Whalen relieved Captain Pearson as commanding officer. The ship remained part of the Atlantic Fleet and continued the normal cycle of operations from Norfolk: upkeep, training, local operations, inspections, and preparations for future deployment. By late 1982, she had entered another important industrial period. From November 1982 to March 1983, USS THOMAS C. HART was in a selected restricted availability at Horne Brothers Shipyard in downtown Newport News, Virginia. This shipyard period provided repair and maintenance before the next overseas cycle.

Commander J. L. MacMichael became commanding officer in 1983. In May 1983, USS THOMAS C. HART deployed for a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf environment. USS DEYO (DD 989) deployed with her. The deployment began with a brief stop at Naval Station Rota, Spain, for entry into the Sixth Fleet area. USS THOMAS C. HART then proceeded toward Middle Eastern waters and made repeated visits to Bahrain, which served as a key United States naval support point in the Persian Gulf. She also made a brief visit to Mombasa, Kenya, a fuel stop at Djibouti, a stop at Palma de Mallorca, Spain, an outbound stop again at Rota, and a stop at Bermuda on the return transit to pick up Tiger Cruise guests.

This 1983 deployment occurred during a period of overlapping regional crises. In the Persian Gulf, the Iran-Iraq War was expanding the risks to shipping and increasing the value of United States naval presence. In the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean, American ships maintained access to the approaches to the Suez Canal and the Arabian Sea. In Lebanon, the Multinational Force was facing a deteriorating security environment after the 1982 Israeli invasion and the continuing conflict around Beirut. During the deployment, USS THOMAS C. HART conducted an underway replenishment with USS TARAWA (LHA 1) in the Red Sea. USS TARAWA's refueling probe became stuck in USS THOMAS C. HART's receiver and the receiver had to be uncoupled and returned. USS THOMAS C. HART also conducted naval gunfire support training off Somalia and hosted a United States Marine Corps Cobra helicopter on her flight deck. While the ship was at Mombasa, the situation in Lebanon worsened, and she received orders connected with escorting a Pacific Fleet amphibious ready group toward the Suez Canal in case the force was needed. The deployment ended with the ship returning across the Atlantic after the Rota and Bermuda stops.

In February 1984, USS THOMAS C. HART was photographed at Naval Station Norfolk. Her operations during 1984 appear mainly as homeport and Atlantic Fleet activity after the 1983 deployment. She remained a Norfolk-based frigate and continued training, maintenance, and readiness work. On February 21, 1985, she was photographed underway in the Chesapeake Bay, another documented indication of local operations and training before the next Mediterranean cycle. Commander Louis A. Nick Jr. relieved Commander MacMichael in October 1985.

FORRESTAL (CV 59) battle group. The USS FORRESTAL deployment ran from June 2, 1986, to November 10, 1986, and included ProwlEx, Operation Sea Wind, and Exercise Display Determination. This was a period of continued United States and NATO naval activity in the Mediterranean following the tense U.S.-Libyan confrontation earlier in 1986 and at a time when Soviet naval presence still shaped Sixth Fleet operations.

On November 21, 1987, Commander James D. Stevens relieved Commander Nick as commanding officer. The late 1980s were a transitional period in the Cold War. Soviet naval activity remained a major planning factor, but the political relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union was beginning to change. USS THOMAS C. HART continued to operate as an Atlantic Fleet frigate in carrier-group, escort, and allied exercise settings.

On March 12, 1988, USS THOMAS C. HART was photographed in the Mediterranean in company with USS CAPODANNO (FF 1093), USS DEWEY (DDG 45), USS YOSEMITE (AD 19), and a SPRUANCE-class destroyer. The image shows her operating in a larger formation of surface combatants and support ships and confirms another presence in the Mediterranean from her during 1988.

Commander David C. Rollins became commanding officer in 1989. She remained in Atlantic Fleet service from Norfolk, carrying out the ordinary cycle of maintenance, training, inspections, exercises, and preparations for future deployment.

USS THOMAS C. HART's next major deployment began in 1990. On August 15, 1990, USS JOHN F. KENNEDY deployed with Carrier Air Wing 3 to the Mediterranean and Red Sea in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. USS THOMAS C. HART was part of that battle group, along with USS SOUTH CAROLINA (CGN 37), USS MISSISSIPPI (CGN 40), and USS THOMAS S. GATES (CG 51). The deployment became part of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. USS THOMAS C. HART arrived on station in the Red Sea in August 1990 and began maritime interception operations. Her operating area included the northern Red Sea and the approaches near the Gulf of Aqaba, where coalition ships sought to enforce sanctions and prevent prohibited cargo from reaching Iraq.

During this deployment, USS THOMAS C. HART conducted forty-three boardings and more than 300 interrogations of merchant vessels near the Gulf of Aqaba and in the northern Red Sea. She spent 131 days in the Red Sea. These operations were repetitive, legally structured, and operationally demanding: the ship's crew had to identify, query, stop, inspect, and document merchant traffic while working within coalition rules and under wartime tension. The deployment only offered limited liberty or port periods at Hurghada, Egypt, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, as well as a Christmas period at Izmir, Turkey, alongside a destroyer tender. A crew account also refers to a short visit at Taranto, Italy, while assigned to Mediterranean naval-force duties. USS THOMAS C. HART returned to Norfolk on March 28, 1991, with the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY battle group after the Persian Gulf War deployment.

In 1992, Commander James W. McGloon relieved Commander Rollins and became the last commanding officer of USS THOMAS C. HART in United States Navy service. The strategic environment had changed fundamentally by then. The Soviet Union had dissolved in December 1991, the Cold War had ended, and the United States Navy was reducing and reshaping its surface force. Many KNOX-class frigates, designed primarily for Cold War open-ocean antisubmarine escort work, were being decommissioned, transferred to allied navies, or otherwise removed from front-line American service as newer ships and post-Cold War priorities took precedence. USS THOMAS C. HART remained in service into 1993 but was approaching the end of her United States Navy career.

USS THOMAS C. HART was decommissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, on August 30, 1993. On the same date, she was leased to Turkey and entered Turkish service as TCG ZAFER (F-253). Her transfer formed part of a broader movement of former KNOX-class frigates from the United States Navy to allied navies after the Cold War. USS THOMAS C. HART was struck from the United States Naval Vessel Register on January 11, 1995. On February 22, 2002, she was formally purchased by Turkey through the Security Assistance Program. She was later decommissioned from Turkish service in 2012. Her final use came in 2016, when the former frigate was used as a target during the Turkish naval exercise Beyaz Firtina, or White Storm. Turkish reporting on the exercise states that the decommissioned ex-USS THOMAS C. HART, ex-TCG ZAFER, was sunk as a target in late May 2016.

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