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Robert's Family
In recognition of Samuel B Robert’s unselfish act, the Navy
named a destroyer in his honor,
designating it with the hull number DE-413. On the
morning of October 25, 1944, off the coast of
the Philippine island of Samar, Roberts and other similar
sized vessels of the U.S. Navy encountered
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USS Samuel B Roberts (DE-413) |
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USS Samuel B Roberts (FFG-58) |
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and repulsed the mightiest ships of the Japanese Imperial
Navy. In so doing they insured the success of General
Douglas McArthur’s Philippine invasion strategy. During
that epic battle, which is detailed in the James D
Hornfischer book, “The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors,”
several of the destroyers and destroyer escorts were sunk.
USS Samuel B Roberts (DE-413) was one of these.
The third ship to bear the name is the USS Samuel B Roberts
(FFG-58). This fast frigate was put in commission in
April, 1986 under the command of Commander Paul X Rinn.
The FFG-58 racked up numerous awards and commendations even
before its first deployment. On April 18, 1988, the
ship while on duty in the Persian Gulf struck an M-08 naval
mine resulting in a 15’ hole in the hull. Only the
heroics of the ship’s officers and crew kept her from
sinking. The story of the FFG-58’s heroics is offered
in the book “No Higher Honor” by Bradley Peniston.
Two other ships that are part of the Roberts family include
the USS Copeland (FFG-25), named after the Captain of the
original Roberts and the USS Carr (FFG-52) named for GM3
Henry Carr who earned a posthumous Silver Star on the same
vessel.
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