Gary is the forty-fifth ship of the of
guided missile frigates. These ships were built to provide air, surface and sub-surface protection for underway replenishment groups, convoys, amphibious groups and other military and merchant shipping. While a capable surface combatant in these traditional warfare areas,
Garys role has expanded from that of the early 1980s to meet the threats and contingencies of the 21st century. Being the smallest multi-mission surface combatant in the U.S. Navy,
Garys shallow draft gives her an advantage over larger cruisers and destroyers in the littoral operations that have characterized recent conflicts.
Garys engineering plant is computer-controlled and monitored, reducing the number of watchstanders required in the engineering spaces themselves. Two marine gas turbine engines provide propulsion. Digital electronic logic circuits and remotely operated valves are monitored in a central control station and make
Gary capable of getting ready to get underway in less than ten minutes rather than the eight hours required by steam-powered ships. One of the U.S. Navy's premiere anti-submarine warfare platforms,
Gary routinely deploys for bilateral anti-submarine exercises and real-world contingency operations in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans. During
Operation Iraqi Freedom, she displayed her versatility, deploying to the Arabian Sea,
Persian Gulf,
Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, conducting carrier escort and air defense, intelligence gathering and presence missions, terrorist interdiction operations, rescue at sea and escorted dozens of merchant and military supply ships through the
Strait of Hormuz and
Bab-el-Mandeb strait. From 1999 to 2007,
Gary was forward-deployed to
Yokosuka, Japan, as part of the United States Seventh Fleet. During 2007,
Gary completed a hull-swap/crew-swap with and to be home-ported at Naval Station, San Diego. == Notable history ==