NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. – More than 200 Sailors aboard the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) and Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron Forty-Eight (HSM-48) Detachment 9 returned home to Naval Station Mayport on Monday after a six-month deployment.
The sailors worked the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility to support Maritime Security Operations and Theater Security Cooperation as well as Operation Active Endeavor.
Hundreds of people welcomed the more than 200 sailors back as they arrived at Mayport.
The excitement was tangible as one sailor proposed to his girlfriend, and dads met their newborn babies. Families were just happy to be back together.
"This is my baby girl right here," said Steven Pace, who returned from deployment. "Our bond is unbreakable. I love her so much."
While deployed, USS Samuel B. Roberts steamed more than 32,000 nautical miles, and conducted 15 underway replenishments, 23 Sea and Anchor Details, and 1,113 mishap free flight hours.
"The Sammy B and HSM 48 Det 9 team completed an extremely successful six-month deployment," said Cmdr. Erica Hoffmann, who is the commanding officer. "Though it was bittersweet as the ship's final operational deployment, we know that the contributions we made in theater will provide lasting results."
USS Samuel B. Roberts is the third ship to be named in honor of Samuel Booker Roberts Jr., a coxswain who diverted enemy fire with his Higgins Boat during the Battle for Guadalcanal in World War II.
FFG-58 is one of the final ships in the U.S. Navy's Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided missile frigates (FFG) and was commissioned on Jan. 7, 1984. The ship is scheduled to decommission mid-year 2015.