- History
- TCG Gaziantep (F 490)
- Awards
- References
- External links
{{Use American English|date=July 2015}}{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2012}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image= | Ship caption=USS Clifton Sprague, 17 November 1980
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United States | 1995}} | Ship name=Clifton Sprague | Ship namesake=Vice Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague | Ship owner= | Ship operator= | Ship registry= | Ship route= | Ship ordered=27 February 1976 | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine | Ship original cost= | Ship yard number= | Ship way number= | Ship laid down=30 July 1979 | Ship launched=16 February 1980 | Ship sponsor=Courtney Sprague Vaughan, daughter of Adm. Sprague | Ship christened= | Ship completed= | Ship acquired= | Ship commissioned=21 March 1981 | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned=2 June 1995 | Ship maiden voyage= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship struck=4 September 1997 | Ship reinstated= | Ship homeport=Naval Station Mayport | Ship identification=*Hull symbol:FFG-16- Code letters:NCAS
- {{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Charlie}}{{ICS|Alpha}}{{ICS|Sierra}}
| Ship motto="Nunc Paratus" (Ready Now) | Ship nickname= | Ship honors= | Ship captured= | Ship fate=Disposed of through the Security Assistance Program (SAP) | Ship status= | Ship notes= | FFG-16|149}}
}}{{Infobox ship image | Ship image= | Ship caption= TCG Gaziantep, 31 May 2010
}}{{Infobox ship career | Ship country=Turkey | Turkey|naval}} | Ship name= TCG Gaziantep | Ship namesake=City of Gaziantep | Ship acquired= 27 August 1997 | Ship commissioned= | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship homeport= | Ship identification=*Hull number: F 490 | Ship motto= | Ship nickname= | Ship honors= | Ship captured= | Ship fate= | Ship status={{Ship in active service}} | Ship notes= | Ship badge=
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Oliver Hazard Perry|frigate|3}} | Ship type= | Ship tonnage= | Ship displacement={{OHP frigate displacement}} | Ship tons burthen= | Ship length={{OHP frigate length short hull}} | Ship beam={{OHP frigate beam}} | Ship height= | Ship draft={{OHP frigate draft}} | Ship depth= | Ship hold depth= | Ship decks= | Ship deck clearance= | Ship ramps= | Ship ice class= | Ship power= | Ship propulsion={{OHP frigate propulsion}} | Ship sail plan= | Ship speed={{OHP frigate speed}} | Ship range={{OHP frigate range}} | Ship endurance= | Ship test depth= | Ship boats= | Ship capacity= | Ship troops= | Ship complement={{OHP frigate complement}} | Ship crew= | Ship time to activate= | Ship sensors={{OHP frigate sensors}} | Ship EW=AN/SLQ-32 | Ship armament={{OHP frigate armament}} | Ship armor= | Ship aircraft=1 × SH-2F LAMPS I helicopter[1] | Ship aircraft facilities= | Ship notes=
}} | USS Clifton Sprague (FFG-16), is an {{sclass-|Oliver Hazard Perry|frigate|0}} guided missile frigate of the United States Navy, the tenth ship of that class. She was named for Vice Admiral Clifton A. F. Sprague (1896–1955), hero of the Battle off Samar action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, where he received the Navy Cross. Clifton Sprague (FFG-16) was the first ship of that name in the US Navy. HistoryOrdered from Bath Iron Works on 27 February 1976 as part of the FY76 program, Clifton Sprague was laid down 30 July 1979, launched 16 February 1980, and commissioned 21 March 1981. Clifton Sprague was part of the forces during Operation Urgent Fury, the US led 1983 Invasion of Grenada.[2]In July 1993, the guided-missile cruiser {{USS|Gettysburg|CG-64|6}} and Clifton Sprague participated in a passing exercise (PASSEX) with three Russian ships, cruiser {{ship|Russian cruiser|Marshal Ustinov||2}}, destroyer Admiral Kharlamov and the replenishment ship Dnester. This was noteworthy because the two navies had an adversarial relationship for decades prior to the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.[3] Clifton Sprague was part of the flotilla for Operation Uphold Democracy, the September 1995 US intervention in Haiti.[4]She was decommissioned on 2 June 1995 at Naval Station Mayport, Florida, and was stricken from the US Navy register on 4 September 1997 after being transferred to Turkey. TCG Gaziantep (F 490)She was transferred to Turkey on 27 August 1997 as that nation's TCG Gaziantep (F 490), and then immediately modified into a G-class frigate by the Turkish Naval Yard. As of 2011, she was still in active service. AwardsClifton Sprague and her crew received the following unit awards, according to the US Navy unit awards website:[5]- Navy E Ribbon, 1 October 1980 to 30 September 1981
- Navy E Ribbon, 1 October 1981 to 30 September 1982
- Navy Expeditionary Medal, 18 April 1983 to 22 April 1983, 1983 United States embassy bombing, Lebanon
- Meritorious Unit Commendation, 23 October 1983 to 2 November 1983, Invasion of Grenada / Operation Urgent Fury
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 23 October 1983 to 18 November 1983, Invasion of Grenada / Operation Urgent Fury
- Navy E Ribbon 1 October 1983 to 31 March 1985
- Navy E Ribbon 1 April 1985 to 30 September 1986
- Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon for 1 April 1989
- Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon, 1 July 1989 to 30 September 1989
- Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation, 1 December 1989 to 1 April 1990
- Joint Meritorious Unit Award, 28 January 1991 to 25 February 1991, this was in the Desert Storm time period, but FFG-16 was not listed as participating in the Gulf War.[6]
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, 16 September 1994 to 24 September 1994, Operation Uphold Democracy Haiti
- Meritorious Unit Commendation, 11 September 1994 to 31 March 1995, Operation Uphold Democracy Haiti
- National Defense Service Medal for service during the Gulf War era
Clifton Sprague was also nominated for the United States Public Health Service Outstanding Unit Citation for operations from 24 June 1994 to 12 July 1994, but did not receive the award. This was around the time that many refugees were fleeing Haiti in small boats.[7]References1. ^{{cite web | url=http://www.navysite.de/ffg/FFG16.HTM | title=USS Clifton Sprague (FFG 16) | publisher=Navysite.de | accessdate=10 April 2015}}
2. ^{{cite web |url= http://www.southcom.mil/newsroom/Pages/FAST-FACTS-30th-Anniversary-of-the-U-S--Caribbean-Intervention-in-Grenada.aspx |title= Facts: 30th Anniversary of the U-S-Caribbean Intervention in Grenada |website= US Southern Command}}
3. ^{{cite news |author= Associated Press |title= USS Gettysburg trains with Russian Ships |newspaper= Gettysburg Times |date= 7 July 1993 }}
4. ^{{cite news |author= Associated Press |title= American Flotilla |newspaper= Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph |date= 15 September 1994 }}
5. ^{{cite web |url=https://awards.navy.mil |title=Unit Awards |website=US Navy |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20041014224730/https://awards.navy.mil/ |archivedate=14 October 2004 |df=dmy-all }}
6. ^{{cite web |url= http://www.history.navy.mil/wars/dstorm/appenb.htm |title=Desert Storm Apdx B |website= US Naval History and Heritage Command}}
7. ^{{cite news |author= Associated Press |title= Haitians to go to Guantanamo |newspaper= Syracuse Herald-Journal |location= Syracuse, New York |date= 29 June 1994}}
{{NVR|{{NVR url|id=FFG16}}}}External links{{Commons category|USS Clifton Sprague (FFG-16)}}- MaritimeQuest USS Clifton Sprague FFG-16 pages
{{Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifton Sprague}} 4 : Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigates of the United States Navy|1980 ships|Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Turkish Navy|Ships built in Bath, Maine |