The Oliver Hazard Perry frigates were purchased by the US Navy in the 1970s and 1980s as a class of general-purpose escort vessels capable of doing most jobs adequately, yet cheaply enough to be bought in large quantities and replace aging World War II-era destroyers.

The class was named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and made the headlines on a couple of occasions. During the Iran-Iraq war on on 17^th May 1987, USS Stark was attacked, apparently accidentally, by an Iraqi warplane. Struck by two Exocet anti-ship missiles, thirty-seven American sailors died in the deadly prelude to the U.S.'s Poeration Earnest Will, the reflagging and escorting of oil tankers through the Persian Gulf. Less than a year later, on 14^th April 1988, the frigate Samuel B Roberts was nearly sunk by an Iranian mine. No lives were lost, but 10 sailors were evacuated from the ship. The U.S. retaliated four days later with Operation Praying Mantis, a one-day attack on Iranian oil platforms being used as bases for raids on merchant shipping, which included the minelaying operations that damaged the Roberts. Both frigates were repaired in U.S. yards