USS Taylor (FFG-50)

USS Taylor (FFG-50) leaving Mayport in January 2014
History
United States
Name:	Taylor
Namesake:	Commander Jesse J. Taylor
Awarded:	22 May 1981
Builder:	Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine
Laid down:	5 May 1983
Launched:	5 November 1983
Sponsored by:	Barbara A. Taylor, widow of namesake
Commissioned:	1 December 1984
Decommissioned:	8 May 2015
Identification:	Hull symbol:FFG-50 Code letters:NJJT
Motto:	"Proud Defender"
Status:	Slated for sale to Taiwan by the Naval Vessel Transfer Act of 2013
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate
Displacement:	4,100 long tons (4,200 t), full load
Length:	453 feet (138 m), overall
Beam:	45 feet (14 m)
Draft:	22 feet (6.7 m)
Propulsion:	2 × General Electric LM2500-30 gas turbines generating 41,000 shp (31 MW) through a single shaft and variable pitch propeller 2 × Auxiliary Propulsion Units, 350 hp (260 kW) retractable electric azimuth thrusters for maneuvering and docking.
Speed:	over 29 knots (54 km/h)
Range:	5,000 nautical miles at 18 knots (9,300 km at 33 km/h)
Complement:	15 officers and 190 enlisted, plus SH-60 LAMPS detachment of roughly six officer pilots and 15 enlisted maintainers
Sensors and processing systems:	AN/SPS-49 air-search radar AN/SPS-55 surface-search radar CAS and STIR fire-control radar AN/SQS-56 sonar.
Electronic warfare & decoys:	AN/SLQ-32
Armament:	As built: 1 × OTO Melara Mk 75 76 mm/62 caliber naval gun 2 × Mk 32 triple-tube (324 mm) launchers for Mark 46 torpedoes 1 × Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 4 × .50-cal (12.7 mm) machine guns. 1 × Mk 13 Mod 4 single-arm launcher for Harpoon anti-ship missiles and SM-1MR Standard anti-ship/air missiles (40 round magazine) Note: As of 2004, Mk 13 systems removed from all active US vessels of this class. Mk 38 Mod 2 in place of Mk 13
Aircraft carried:	2 × SH-60B LAMPS Mk III helicopters
Aviation facilities:	2 × Hangars RAST helicopter hauldown system

USS Taylor (FFG-50), an Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, was a ship of the United States Navy named for Commander Jesse J. Taylor (1925–1965), a naval aviator who was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously for his heroism in the Vietnam War.

Taylor's keel was laid down by Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Maine, on 5 May 1983. She was launched 5 November 1983, and commissioned 1 December 1984 in Bath, Maine. Taylor was sponsored by Barbara A. Taylor, the widow of the ship's namesake, and Diane Taylor-Oeland as matron of honor.

Taylor was homeported in Charleston, South Carolina from 1985-1993. The ship deployed to Northern Europe as part of the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) in 1987 and the Persian Gulf in 1988 and 1990. Participated in Operation Earnest Will. In 1993, the Taylor changed homeport to Mayport, Florida with the closing of Charleston Naval Station.

Up to 2015, Taylor was homeported at NS Mayport, Florida, and was part of Destroyer Squadron 14.