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About the Ship's Coat of Arms

About the Name "Ingraham"

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Homeports of USS Ingraham

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USS Ingraham (FFG 61)

USS INGRAHAM was the last ship in the OLIVER HAZARD PERRY - class and the fourth ship in the Navy to bear the name. USS INGRAHAM held a decommissioning ceremony on November 12, 2014, and was officially decommissioned on January 15, 2015. Subsequently laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., the INGRAHAM was finally sunk as a target on August 15, 2021, during Large Scale Exercise 2021 off Hawaii.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS INGRAHAM. 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 INGRAHAM memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS INGRAHAM Cruise Books:

• WestPac Cruise Book 1995
• WestPac Cruise Book 2003

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

( Click on the Coat of Arms for a larger version )

The Shield:

Dark blue and gold are the colors traditionally associated with the US Navy. The chain broken by the sword represents Captain Duncan Ingraham forcing the release of Martin Koszto, a Hungarian confined by an Austrian warship who had earlier declared his intention of becoming an American citizen. The sword also emphasizes the Naval protection Captain Ingraham provided the Hungarian. The color red symbolizes the courage it took for Ingraham to stand his ground alone far from his country. The crescent, adapted from the Turkish national flag, refers to Smyrna, Turkey, where the American Captain held fast and took a stand in 1853. The color white is expressive of his purity of intent. The separations of the shield honor the three previous destroyers named "INGRAHAM"; the wavy divisions reflect the sea. The disc, with three of the colors of the Navy Unit Commendation Award, commemorates the award earned in World War II by the third USS INGRAHAM. The powerful anti-aircraft fire of this ship is underscored by the arrowhead pointing upwards.

The Crest:

The eagle, our national symbol, portrays swiftness, strength, and constant vigilance. The trident characterizes Naval weaponry and sea prowess and symbolizes the combat readiness and modern weapon systems of FFG 61. The seven stars commemorate the third INGRAHAM's service - four battle stars earned for World War II, one for the Korean War and two for the Vietnam conflict. The wreath of laurel is emblematic of excellence and accomplishment and also refers to the gold medal awarded to Captain Ingraham by Congress for his "gallant and judicious conduct" at Smyrna.

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About the Frigate's Name, about Captain Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham:

USS INGRAHAM is the fourth ship to honor the name of Captain Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham (1802-1891). Captain Ingraham, while commanding the sloop St. Louis in the Mediterranean Squadron in July 1852, interfered with the Austrian consul's detention of Martin Kosztca, a Hungarian who had declared in New York his intention of becoming an American citizen. For his conduct in this matter he was voted thanks and a medal by Congress.

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USS INGRAHAM History:

USS INGRAHAM was the last OLIVER HAZARD PERRY-class guided-missile frigate built for the United States Navy and the fourth ship to carry the name of Captain Duncan Ingraham. She was laid down on March 30, 1987 at Todd Pacific Shipyards, Los Angeles Division, in San Pedro, California, launched on June 25, 1988, and commissioned on August 5, 1989 at Naval Station Long Beach, California. From the outset, she was intended as a multi-role escort able to provide anti-submarine, anti-surface and limited anti-air warfare for carrier battle groups, amphibious ready groups and independent task forces.

After commissioning in August 1989, USS INGRAHAM completed fitting-out and a period of shakedown and combat-systems trials along the southern California coast. Contemporary command-history summaries note that during 1990, she operated primarily from Long Beach and San Diego while crew members attended schools ashore and the ship worked up to full operational status as an active warship. In these first years, she functioned as a typical newly introduced frigate in the Pacific Fleet: conducting engineering trials, weapons qualifications, and integrated exercises with other surface combatants and aircraft in the Southern California Operating Areas while remaining available for contingency tasking.

In 1991, USS INGRAHAM undertook her first major overseas deployment to the western Pacific. During the westbound transit across the Pacific that year, she became involved in the large-scale non-combatant evacuation triggered by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines. A catastrophic series of eruptions beginning on June 12, 1991, combined with the passage of Typhoon Yunya, devastated Luzon and heavily damaged U.S. facilities at Subic Bay and Cubi Point. A task group built around the aircraft carrier ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) and including the cruiser LAKE CHAMPLAIN (CG 57), the replenishment oiler ROANOKE (AOR 7), the submarine tender PROTEUS (AS 19) and other ships, with USS INGRAHAM among the escorts, was directed to support what became Operation Fiery Vigil, the seaborne evacuation of tens of thousands of U.S. military dependents and other civilians.

While ABRAHAM LINCOLN embarked and transported several thousand evacuees from Subic Bay, Cubi Point and Clark Air Base to Cebu City for onward movement to Guam and the continental United States, INGRAHAM operated as part of the screening and support force in the surrounding waters, helping to provide local security and maritime control during the movement of evacuees and supporting ships.

Following the initial emergency phase around the Philippines, USS INGRAHAM continued her 1991 Western Pacific cruise, operating with other task-group units in regional waters. Photographic records document her presence pierside at Subic Bay in October 1991, one of the last years in which U.S. Navy warships regularly used that port before the closure of the American bases there. During the remainder of the deployment, she carried out the usual mix of presence operations, exercises and port visits characteristic of a WestPac cruise, before eventually returning to her Long Beach homeport toward the end of 1991.

By 1992, the ship was a fully integrated unit of the Pacific Fleet. The 1992 command history notes that the year was "busy" for USS INGRAHAM and that documentation from her 1991 deployment was carried forward as part of her archival record. Operations that year combined local training out of Long Beach with preparatory work for her first major maintenance period. Later in 1992, she transited to Naval Station Long Beach and entered Selected Restricted Availability 1 (SRA-1) at Pier 16, a dockyard evolution that focused on upkeep, repair and improvement of hull, machinery and combat systems. On completion of this availability she resumed local operations, again cycling through the standard program of inspections, drills and short-range exercises needed to qualify for another extended deployment.

In 1993, USS INGRAHAM deployed again to the western Pacific.Command history excerpts describe the ship dropping shore power, embarking a detachment from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 43, and beginning the transit exercise that opened the deployment. By June 1993, she was photographed operating in formation in the western Pacific alongside the aircraft carrier ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the nuclear-powered attack submarine PASADENA (SSN 752) and the cruiser FOX (CG 33), confirming her role as one of the escorts in a carrier battle group operating in that theater. During this cruise, she took part in a series of exercises and presence operations across the region under the overall framework of a Western Pacific and Indian Ocean deployment. The official command history records that she completed WESTPAC 93 and arrived back from deployment on December 15, 1993, marking the end of her second extended overseas cruise.

The year 1994 was dominated by post-deployment refit, training in home waters, and a major change of homeport. Command history and photographic sources indicate that much of the year was spent in maintenance and readiness work following the demanding 1993 deployment, but that a key milestone came in September 1994, when USS INGRAHAM's homeport shifted from Naval Station Long Beach to the Navy's new base at Naval Station Everett, Washington. Everett had reached initial operating status in April 1994 as part of the U.S. Navy's Strategic Homeport program, and INGRAHAM, together with frigate FORD (FFG 54), was among the first surface warships assigned to the new facility later that year. The move north placed the ship in the Puget Sound region, from which she would operate for the rest of her commissioned life as part of Destroyer Squadron 9.

After an intensive work-up period out of Everett in early 1995, USS INGRAHAM began her next long deployment. On April 28, 1995, she left Naval Station Everett for an extended cruise to the western Pacific, Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf. This deployment lasted about six months and concluded with her return to Everett in October 1995, by which time she had just completed a sustained period of operations in the Persian Gulf region. A subsequent command history notes that by late 1995, she had "recently returned from a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf in October of 1995", confirming both the area and approximate duration of the cruise. In this period, the ship contributed to post-Gulf War U.S. naval presence associated with enforcement of United Nations sanctions on Iraq and general regional security, though open sources do not provide a day-by-day account of her activities or list individual port visits on that deployment.

On returning to Everett, USS INGRAHAM entered a maintenance phase. During 1996, she underwent a docking selected restricted availability (DSRA) at a West Coast yard, then resumed local operations and a structured work-up program. A 1996 command history records that after completing DSRA, the frigate began an intensive training cycle in preparation for a new deployment to the Persian Gulf scheduled for February 1997. Through the remainder of 1996, she operated primarily from Everett and other Pacific Northwest waters, conducting the usual series of inspections, team training events and at-sea exercises required to certify a surface combatant for deployment.

In early 1997, USS INGRAHAM deployed again from Everett, this time for another western Pacific and Indian Ocean cruise that would culminate in operations in the Persian Gulf. The 1997 command history confirms that she left homeport in February and that by the spring she was operating in Southeast Asian waters. During this deployment, the ship made a port visit to Phuket, Thailand; the official narrative notes that she arrived there in 1997 and that the visit became a notable event in the deployment's history.

While sources highlight Phuket as a significant liberty port, they do not systematically list all other stops on this WestPac/Persian Gulf cruise. Later in 1997, USS INGRAHAM continued on to the Arabian Gulf conducting surveillance of civilian shipping and related maritime security tasks in the Persian Gulf that year. She returned to Naval Station Everett in the late summer of 1997.

For the late 1990s, detailed deployment data in accessible public sources becomes sparse. A command history exists for 1999, but only its transmittal letter is readily viewable, without the narrative enclosure that would normally list individual operations and port calls. No command history for 1998 is posted alongside the other years, and widely used secondary summaries likewise do not describe a major long deployment in 1998. Taken together, this suggests that from late 1997 through mid-2001 USS INGRAHAM was based primarily at Everett, cycling through routine local operations, inspections and shorter exercises typical for an OLIVER HAZARD PERRY-class frigate between extended deployments, even though specific short-term underway periods and port visits are not documented in the same detail as her later cruises.

A new operational phase began in mid-2001, when USS INGRAHAM joined the battle group built around the aircraft carrier USS CARL VINSON (CVN 70) for what would become a high-profile deployment linked to the opening stages of the global war on terrorism. A resolution of the Washington State legislature records that on July 24, 2001, USS INGRAHAM departed Naval Station Everett as part of the CARL VINSON Battle Group for a scheduled six-month deployment.

The group included USS CARL VINSON, the cruisers USS ANTIETAM (CG 54) and USS PRINCETON (CG 59), the destroyers USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG 53) and USS O'KANE (DDG 77), the destroyer USS O'BRIEN (DD 975), USS INGRAHAM, and support ships such as USS SACRAMENTO (AOE 1), USNS NIAGARA FALLS (T-AFS 3) and the submarine USS OLYMPIA (SSN 717). After work-ups in the eastern Pacific and western Pacific, the strike group took station in the North Arabian Sea in the autumn of 2001. On October 7, 2001, when USS CARL VINSON and Carrier Air Wing 11 launched the first strikes of Operation Enduring Freedom against Taliban and al-Qaeda targets in Afghanistan, USS INGRAHAM was part of the escort force providing anti-air and anti-submarine protection and contributing to the group's overall maritime security posture.

During this deployment, the frigate also took part in maritime interception and safety operations in the North Arabian Sea. An official U.S. Navy summary of Operation Enduring Freedom notes that USS INGRAHAM together with the Royal Australian Navy frigate HMAS SYDNEY (FFG 03) rescued six mariners after a collision between a supply vessel and a tug in the region, underlining her contribution to routine safety of navigation missions alongside combat operations. The battle group stood down from combat operations in mid-December 2001 and began its journey home. According to state-level records, USS INGRAHAM returned to Everett on January 22, 2002, ending roughly six months abroad and bringing her crew back to Washington after participation in the opening campaign of the post-9/11 wars.

In 2003, USS INGRAHAM again deployed with USS CARL VINSON, this time for a mainly Pacific-focused cruise rather than combat operations in Southwest Asia. Histories describe the frigate operating alongside USS CARL VINSON in the Pacific and visiting ports in the western Pacific and the Marianas. During this cruise, USS INGRAHAM spent several days at Apra Harbor, Guam, and also visited Saipan in the Northern Marianas. In these months, USS INGRAHAM functioned primarily as an escort and independent surface combatant supporting U.S. presence and training operations in the western Pacific rather than direct combat.

In 2004, INGRAHAM remained homeported at Everett and transitioned toward a new role supporting expeditionary strike groups centered on large amphibious ships, with preparations underway for her next extended cruise. That next deployment came in mid-2005, when USS INGRAHAM joined Expeditionary Strike Group One (ESG-1) built around the amphibious assault ship USS TARAWA (LHA 1) and the embarked 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable). A U.S. Navy news release notes that ESG-1's units, including USS TARAWA, the amphibious transport dock USS CLEVELAND (LPD 7), the dock landing ship USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52), the cruiser USS CHOSIN (CG 65) and USS INGRAHAM, departed their homeports in July 2005 for a regularly scheduled deployment.

By August 30, 2005, the strike group had entered the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command area of operations in the Indian Ocean, where it began a program of maritime security operations (MSO) designed to deter terrorism and protect sea lines of communication in the Gulf of Aden, Gulf of Oman, North Arabian Sea and approaches to the Arabian Gulf. During this deployment, USS INGRAHAM alternated between close escort tasks within ESG-1 and independent assignments with coalition Task Force 150. She, together with USS GONZALEZ (DDG 66) and other ESG-1 ships, conducted patrols that included challenging suspect vessels, monitoring shipping patterns and helping defend Iraq's offshore oil infrastructure in the northern Gulf.

A U.S. Navy photograph from September 23, 2005 shows USS INGRAHAM in the Mediterranean Sea leading a formation of coalition ships during an aerial photo exercise, confirming that the deployment also took the ship through the Mediterranean as part of its transit and operations.

When a devastating earthquake struck Pakistan in October 2005, reports on the U.S. military's relief effort noted that elements of the TARAWA strike group, including USS INGRAHAM, were in the region and contributed to the deployment of U.S. forces and supplies to assist in recovery operations. ESG-1 completed its mission in early 2006, returning its ships, including USS INGRAHAM, to their homeports around February after roughly seven months away.

After standing down from the ESG-1 deployment, USS INGRAHAM resumed the typical pattern of post-deployment maintenance and local training. She then deployed again in late 2007, this time as part of a surface action group built around the cruiser USS PORT ROYAL (CG 73) and the destroyer USS HOPPER (DDG 70) for six months of operations throughout the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In January 2008, while transiting the Strait of Hormuz with USS PORT ROYAL and USS HOPPER, USS INGRAHAM was involved in a widely reported encounter with small high-speed craft of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The boats maneuvered aggressively near the U.S. formation and radioed threatening messages before departing. The incident drew international attention but ended without shots being fired.

Later in that same deployment, USS INGRAHAM again called at Phuket, Thailand. A U.S. Navy news release from April 2008 describes the three ships completing a port visit to Phuket, departing the port on April 7, 2008, after several days of liberty and community-relations activities. INGRAHAM returned to Everett on May 9, 2008, marking the end of the cruise.

In late 2009, USS INGRAHAM sailed once more from Everett for an independent deployment that would take her into the U.S. 3rd, 5th and 7th Fleet areas of responsibility. A U.S. Navy photo caption documents that when she arrived back in Everett on April 10, 2010, she had completed a seven-month cruise covering those three fleet areas. While in the 5th Fleet region she focused on deterring smuggling and piracy and conducted "approach and assist" visits to local fishing vessels in the Red Sea. During this deployment, after the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the Samoan Islands region on September 29, 2009, USS INGRAHAM was diverted to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief around American Samoa. Contemporary reporting notes that she took part in multinational relief efforts, delivering supplies and assisting with reconnaissance and logistics in the affected area.

Following her return in April 2010, USS INGRAHAM again entered a cycle of maintenance and local operations from Everett. Publicly posted records for the early 2010s are less granular, but they show her participating in routine surface force exercises and remaining assigned to Destroyer Squadron 9 as part of the Pacific Fleet's escort force.

Her final major deployment came in 2014, when USS INGRAHAM was assigned to the U.S. 4th Fleet in the eastern Pacific Ocean for maritime security and counter-narcotics operations under the umbrella of Joint Interagency Task Force South and Operation Martillo. U.S. Navy releases describe this deployment as focused on tracking, intercepting and deterring illicit trafficking by small craft along Central and South American sea routes. Over the course of the cruise, the frigate, working with embarked law-enforcement detachments and maritime patrol aircraft, intercepted multiple smuggling vessels and seized substantial quantities of illegal narcotics.

She returned to Everett from this final deployment in October 2014, ending her career as an active-duty escort with a mission profile very different from the Persian Gulf and North Arabian Sea operations that had dominated her deployments a decade earlier.

After returning home, USS INGRAHAM was ceremonially decommissioned at Naval Station Everett on November 12, 2014, with her official decommissioning date recorded as January 30, 2015. She then moved to the inactive ships facility at Bremerton, Washington, pending a final decision on disposition. In August 2021, she was expended as a target during a SINKEX (sinking exercise) near Hawaii as part of Large Scale Exercise 2021, where a combination of weapons, including Naval Strike Missiles and a final Mk 48 torpedo from the submarine USS CHICAGO (SSN 721), were used to sink the retired frigate.

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Homeports of USS INGRAHAM:

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USS INGRAHAM Patch Gallery:

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USS INGRAHAM Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Ian Johnson and show the INGRAHAM in Fremantle Harbor, Australia, on July 11, 2003. At the time, INGRAHAM was operating with the CARL VINSON (CVN 70) Strike Group.

The photos below were taken by me and show the INGRAHAM at Naval Station Everett, Wash., on May 13, 2012.

The photos below were taken by Lars Ilchmann and show the INGRAHAM at Naval Station Everett, Wash., on November 8, 2014 - just 9 days after the ship returned from its final deployment. The INGRAHAM had been underway in the 4th Fleet area of operations for seven-and-a-half months. On November 10, 2014, the ship undertook a final family and friends cruise in Elliot Bay and held a decommissioning ceremony on November 12.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the INGRAHAM laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on April 17, 2016.

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the INGRAHAM laid up at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash., on October 13, 2017.

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