USS Ramsey (DEG-2/FFG-2) was a Brooke-Class Destroyer, later a Frigate, in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

. She was named for Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey

DeWitt Clinton Ramsey

Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey was a U.S. Navy officer and pioneer Naval aviator who served as an aircraft-carrier commander during World War II, notably at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. Post-war assignments including command of the U.S...

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Ramsey was laid down 4 February 1963 by Lockheed Shipbuilding & Construction Company, Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

; launched 15 October 1963; sponsored by Mrs. DeWitt Clinton Ramsey

DeWitt Clinton Ramsey

Admiral DeWitt Clinton Ramsey was a U.S. Navy officer and pioneer Naval aviator who served as an aircraft-carrier commander during World War II, notably at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. Post-war assignments including command of the U.S...

; and commissioned 3 June 1967, Comdr. William D. Robertson, Jr., in command. She had an overall length of 415 feet and displaced 3446 tons.

After shakedown off the west coast, Ramsey departed Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

, on 1 May 1968 for the western Pacific. Following duty off Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 and her return to Long Beach 9 November, she sailed again for the western Pacific 8 October 1969, and again operated off Vietnam, before returning to Long Beach 18 April 1970. Between January 1970 and January 1974, Ramsey alternated two more WestPac cruises with operations off the west coast of the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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Ramsey has earned five battle stars for Vietnam

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

service. She was classified as a Destroyer, Guided Missile Escort (DEG-2) from her commissioning until after her combat tours in Vietnam. The new designation was Guided Missile (Fighting) Frigate, (FFG-2), which was effective June 30, 1975. She was decommissioned 01 September, 1988.

She was expended as a target 15 June 2000 in 2700 fathoms (16,200 ft) north of Hawaii at 23 53 N -- 159 35 W.

As of 2005, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Ramsey.