USS Copeland FFG 25 / Rear Admiral Robert Witcher Copeland / Oliver Hazard Perry class Guided Missile Frigate
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Naval Forces Technology, History & Information

 

Guided Missile Frigate

FFG 25   -   USS Copeland

USS Copeland (FFG 25)

US Navy photo

Type, Class:

 

Guided Missile Frigate; Oliver Hazard Perry – class (short hull);

planned and built as FFG 25;

Builder:

 

Todd Pacific Shipyard, San Pedro, California, USA

STATUS:

 

Awarded: February 28, 1977;

Laid down: October 24, 1979;

Launched: July 26, 1980;

Commissioned: August 7, 1982;

Decommissioned: September 18, 1996;

 

Fate: stricken: September 18, 1996;

transferred to Egypt (grant aid) on September 18, 1996;

renamed ENS Mubarak (F-911); in service in Egyptian Navy;

Homeport:

 

-

Namesake:

 

Named after and in honor of Rear Admiral Robert Witcher Copeland (1910 – 1973);

> see history, below;

Ship's Motto:

 

> FORCE FOR PEACE <

Technical Data:

(Measures, Propulsion,

Armament, Aviation, etc.)

 

see: INFO > Guided Missile Frigate / Oliver Hazard Perry - class.

 

Pictures, photos & more ...

 

Robert Witcher Copeland

LCDR Copeland receives the Navy Cross from Rear Admiral David M. LeBreton (1945)

 

Photo credits: US Navy, US Naval Historical Center

 

Namesake & History:

Rear Admiral Robert Witcher Copeland (September 9, 1910 – August 25, 1973);

 

Robert Witcher Copeland was born at Tacoma, Washington, on 9 September 1910. Enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1929, he was commissioned as a Naval Reserve officer in 1935. Copeland practiced law from 1935 until 1940, when he was ordered to active duty during the Navy's pre-World War II expansion. During the War, he commanded USS Pawtucket (YT-7), USS Black Douglas (PYc-45), USS Wyman (DE-38) and USS Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413).

During the Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944, while commanding Samuel B. Roberts, Lieutenant Commander Copeland led his ship and crew in an attack on a greatly superior Japanese battleship and cruiser force. Though his ship was lost, this action helped defeat the Japanese counter-offensive against the Leyte invasion. For this, he was awarded the Navy Cross.

Following World War II, Copeland resumed his law career while remaining a member of the Naval Reserve, in which he rose to the rank of Rear Admiral. Robert W. Copeland died at Tacoma, Washington, on 25 August 1973.

 

USS Copeland (FFG 25):

 

... FFG 25 history wanted ...

 

… and patches …

 

 

 

 

 

 

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