Guided Missile Frigate
FFG 25 - USS Copeland
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 > Oliver Hazard Perry - class Guided Missile Frigate
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Robert Witcher Copeland
LCDR Copeland receives the Navy Cross from Rear Admiral David M. LeBreton (1945)
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 --
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