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USS Nicholas (FFG 47)

USS NICHOLAS was the thirty-seventh ship in the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY class of frigates and the third ship in the Navy named for Major of the Marines Samuel V. Nicholas. Last homeported at Naval Base Norfolk, Va., the NICHOLAS held a decommissioning ceremony there on March 10, 2014. On March 17, she was officially decommissioned and stricken from the Navy list.

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Crew List:

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

• Click here to view the list.

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• Click here to see which USS NICHOLAS memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS NICHOLAS Cruise Books:

• Mediterranean / Baltic Sea Cruise Book 2003

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Commanding Officers of USS NICHOLAS:

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History of USS NICHOLAS:

USS NICHOLAS was built at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. Her keel was laid on September 27, 1982, she was launched on April 23, 1983, delivered on February 24, 1984, and commissioned on March 10, 1984. After commissioning, she completed post-delivery workups and entered the Atlantic Fleet operating cycle as an OLIVER HAZARD PERRY-class guided missile frigate.

In 1985, she participated in SHAREM 85, reflecting the era's emphasis on Atlantic antisubmarine warfare readiness. In 1988, during the closing phase of the Iran-Iraq War's maritime "Tanker War", USS NICHOLAS deployed to the Persian Gulf in connection with Operation Earnest Will, the U.S. escort effort to protect reflagged Kuwaiti tankers and associated merchant traffic, and she was credited with participation in Operation Praying Mantis on April 18, 1988, the U.S. surface action that followed the mining of USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (FFG 58). As the Gulf crisis developed in 1990-1991, USS NICHOLAS was associated with Operation Candid Hammer, which emphasized mine countermeasures-related operations and support in the wider Desert Shield/Desert Storm period. When Operation Desert Storm began on January 17, 1991, she operated far forward in the northern Persian Gulf in an advance posture that included combat search-and-rescue support.

On January 18, 1991, USS NICHOLAS operated near the Dorrah (ad-Dawrah) oilfield platforms with a Kuwaiti patrol craft and U.S. Army helicopters in an action that led to the seizure of Iraqi-held positions on the platforms and the capture of 23 Iraqi personnel, frequently cited as the first prisoners taken during the conflict. During the same opening phase, she carried out repeated small-craft and mine-danger actions in the northern Gulf and supported naval gunfire operations by escorting USS MISSOURI (BB 63) and USS WISCONSIN (BB 64). In February 1991, amid the dense and hazardous combat environment of the Gulf, an incident was recorded in which a missile impact believed to have been an errant anti-radiation weapon detonated close aboard; it caused only minor damage and no reported casualties.

Later in 1991, USS NICHOLAS also completed a Great Lakes deployment, reflecting the period's combination of overseas operations and domestic presence missions. In 1992, she was credited with counter-drug operations, a tasking that increasingly shaped frigate employment as maritime interdiction expanded beyond Cold War missions.

In 1993, USS NICHOLAS conducted a six-month deployment that included the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Ionian Sea, and Adriatic Sea in support of United Nations sanctions enforcement directed at Iraq and the former Republic of Yugoslavia. During that cruise, she conducted more than 170 boarding operations as part of maritime interception and embargo enforcement. In 1995, she returned to Adriatic sanctions enforcement with Standing Naval Forces Atlantic in support of Operation Sharp Guard, conducting more than 120 boardings and rescuing 16 people from a capsized vessel. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, official deployment summaries associate USS NICHOLAS with the USS ENTERPRISE (CVN 65) strike group in 1999 and again in later years, and they credit her with a Persian Gulf deployment in 2001 that included operations identified as Red Reef, Unified Warrior, and Enduring Freedom, reflecting the post-September 11 shift toward sustained maritime security operations alongside traditional escort and readiness tasks. In 2002, she also hosted a visit connected with promotion of a Medal of Honor-related book issue to service members.

On June 16, 2003, USS NICHOLAS departed Naval Station Norfolk for a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean and northern European operating areas that combined allied exercises, maritime security tasking, and an extensive diplomatic port-visit schedule. She arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia, on July 3, 2003, and departed on July 7 after a four-day visit. She later visited Copenhagen, Denmark, departing on August 14 after a four-day call. On September 26, 2003, she conducted a widely reported port call at Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina, an event treated at the time as a significant milestone in post-conflict regional engagement. On October 14, 2003, she departed Naval Station Rota, Spain, to begin SANSO 03, a multilateral maritime interdiction exercise in the Mediterranean associated with the Proliferation Security Initiative framework, focused on cooperative procedures and boarding practice. She returned to Norfolk on December 16, 2003, and summaries of that deployment credited her with querying more than 350 merchant vessels and completing 20 port visits during the overall cruise.

On May 25, 2005, USS NICHOLAS departed Norfolk for an approximately three-month underway period with USS SAIPAN (LHA 2) tasking, and during that surge cycle she participated in Shark Hunt 2005, a multinational antisubmarine exercise involving allied and partner forces. She returned to Norfolk on August 25, 2005. On May 2, 2006, she deployed again as part of the USS ENTERPRISE carrier strike group. On May 25, 2006, she was in Antalya, Turkey, during Exercise Anatolian Sun, a maritime interdiction training activity with multinational participation. During the same deployment, USS NICHOLAS hosted a Combined Task Force 152 change-of-command ceremony in the Bahrain operating area in late-June 2006, when Italian Rear Adm. Salvatore Ruzittu relieved U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Ray Spicer. USS NICHOLAS returned to Norfolk on November 14, 2006.

In 2007, she combined port engagement and advanced training roles, including a port call at New Orleans that concluded with her departure on April 27, 2007, and participation in Exercise Neptune Warrior 07-2 off Scotland in September 2007. Later in 2007, she operated as a simulated opposition force during composite training for the USS NASSAU (LHA 4) expeditionary strike group.

On February 18, 2008, USS NICHOLAS departed Norfolk for a six-month Mediterranean maritime security deployment. She departed Portsmouth, England, on March 3 following a routine call, arrived in Kiel, Germany, on March 10, and arrived at Faslane, Scotland, on April 20. After participating in Joint Warrior 081, she made a scheduled stop at Helensburgh, Scotland, on May 2 and then was in Portsmouth again on May 5-6 before returning to Norfolk on August 18, 2008.

On December 3, 2009, USS NICHOLAS departed Norfolk for Africa Partnership Station in support of U.S. Africa Command's maritime capacity-building mission, a deployment that also aligned with broader counter-piracy and maritime security priorities as piracy surged in the western Indian Ocean. She departed Civitavecchia, Italy, on December 26, arrived at Djibouti on January 5, 2010, and then executed a dense port-visit and engagement itinerary that included Mombasa on January 11 (in company with HSV SWIFT), Dar es Salaam on January 18, Durban on January 29, Cape Town on February 3, Maputo on February 9, Port Est, Reunion, on February 17, Port Louis on February 21, and Port Victoria on March 1. On April 1, 2010, operating west of the Seychelles, she engaged suspected pirates after taking fire shortly after midnight, pursued and disabled a skiff, detained suspects, and confiscated a suspected mother ship. She later returned to Djibouti on May 5 and arrived back in Norfolk on June 3, 2010, concluding the six-month deployment. On August 25, 2011, she temporarily departed Norfolk to avoid Hurricane Irene.

On January 17, 2012, USS NICHOLAS departed Norfolk for a counter-narcotics deployment in support of Joint Interagency Task Force South operations, part of the sustained U.S. and partner-nation effort to disrupt maritime trafficking corridors in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. During the deployment, she supported multiple interdiction operations, including a May 2012 case that resulted in the seizure of large quantities of cocaine, and a June 2012 interdiction off Colombia in support of Operation Martillo. She conducted logistics and port calls that included Panama City on June 29, Guantanamo Bay on July 13, and Naval Station Mayport on July 17 to offload seized narcotics, before returning to Norfolk on July 19, 2012.

Command changed on August 2, 2012, when Cmdr. Cory G. Blaser relieved Cmdr. Steve F. Fuller. On January 20, 2013, USS NICHOLAS departed Norfolk for a surge Middle East deployment in support of Operation Ocean Shield. She made an early logistics stop at Funchal, Portugal, on January 29 and began a week-long call at Souda Bay, Crete, on February 4. In the Gulf of Aden she conducted counter-piracy cooperation that included joint training with RFS SEVEROMORSK on March 23-24. On March 30, 2013, she was ordered to assist the bulk carrier ATLANTIK CONFIDENCE after a major engine-room fire off Oman's Masirah Island, supporting the emergency response and subsequent rescue efforts. She visited Muscat on April 4, made a mid-April call at Djibouti, and on April 28 moored at Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Hidd, Bahrain, for an upkeep period. Later in the deployment, she pulled into Brest, France, on June 24 to participate in the annual FRUKUS exercise, conducted the at-sea phase from June 27 to June 30, and returned to Brest through July 2. She then made a rare port visit to Reykjavik, departing on July 12, and conducted a refueling stop in Halifax on July 18 before returning to Norfolk on August 9, 2013, after nearly seven months deployed.

On March 10, 2014 - exactly 30 years after commissioning - USS NICHOLAS held her decommissioning ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk. On March 17, 2014, she was officially decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, concluding a 30-year career. The ship's awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, Southwest Asia Service Medal (with three bronze stars), Armed Forces Service Medal, NATO Medal, Kuwaiti Liberation Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Sea Service Ribbon (with five bronze stars), a Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation (with "O" for Law Enforcement), and six Battle Efficiency Awards as the top ship in her squadron.

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About the Ship's Name:

The USS NICHOLAS is named for Major of Marines Samuel V. Nicholas (1774-1790), the first officer commissioned in the Continental Naval Service, 28 November 1775 as Captain of the Marines. On 3 March 1776, as Senior Marine Officer in the Continental Navy, Nicholas led a small expeditionary force of some 234 Marines and 50 Sailors in the capture of forts Montague and Nassau in the Bahamas. This was the first amphibious operation carried out by the Navy-Marine Corps team.

Subsequently promoted to Major of the Marines on 25 June 1776, Nicholas recruited and also trained four companies of Marines for several new frigates then under construction in the boatyards near Philadelphia. Nicholas led three of those four companies to form a battalion which later joined George Washington's Army for the later battles in New Jersey, taking part in the second Battle of Trenton and in the Battle of Princeton.

For the remainder of the Revolutionary War, Nicholas exercised general supervision over the Continental Marines, fulfilling duties closely approximating the duties of today's Commandant of the Marine Corps.

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The Scarlet and Gold colors throughout the shield are the traditional colors of the United States Marine Corps. The center blue stripe in the shield represents the United States Navy, and together, they symbolize the defensive strength of the Navy/Marine Corps team. The anchor alludes to the first amphibious operation conducted by American fighting men, led by then-Captain Samuel Nicholas. The drum with the rattlesnake, a well known symbol used during the Revolutionary War, represents Nicholas' effort in recruiting and training Marines for duty in the Continental Navy. The bayonets represent the participation of the Marines with General George Washington at the Second Battle of Trenton and the Battle of Princeton. Three gold oak leaves symbolize Major Nicholas' steadfastness and courage, and also allude to his rank. The number three is significant for FFG 47 as the third United States warship to bear the name NICHOLAS.

"Carrying On A Proud Tradition" is enscribed surrounding the shield reminding NICHOLAS to continue to serve with distinction as her forebearers did.

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Accidents aboard USS NICHOLAS:

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USS NICHOLAS Patch Gallery:

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USS NICHOLAS Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Brian Barton when USS NICHOLAS was at Naval Base Norfolk on July 23, 2002. The ship in the background is the guided missile destroyer USS OSCAR AUSTIN (DDG 79).

Close-up of the USS NICHOLAS at Naval Base Norfolk, Va. on November 9, 2008. The photo was taken by me.

The photos below were taken by me and show the USS NICHOLAS at Naval Base Norfolk, Va. on October 29, 2010.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the NICHOLAS laid up among her sisterships at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on October 21, 2014. NICHOLAS is the ship moored outboard with the hullnumber painted over.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the NICHOLAS laid up at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on October 17, 2016.

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