After nearly 30 years of Naval service, friends, family and service members gathered at Naval Station Mayport to bid farewell to the Oliver Perry class Frigate USS Klakring (FFG 42) March 22nd, during a decommissioning ceremony at Naval Station Mayport.
With the ships’ company manning the rails, Capt. Paul Flood, Commander, Destroyer Squadron 14, talked about the long proud tradition of Klakring.
“From maritime patrols in the Persian Gulf, anti-piracy operations off the coast of Africa, to counter narcotics patrols in the Caribbean Sea, Klakring have always performed exceptionally,” said Flood.
Hood went on to thank Cmdr. Bertram Hodge, commanding officer of Klakring for his leadership as the ship prepared to decommission.
“I have been fortunate as a Commodore to be able to rely on Cmdr. Hodge, he knows that the morale of a ship is in its ability to get underway and successfully complete the mission,” said Flood.
Hodge then addressed the crowd, and spoke about the hard work of the crew and carrying on the tradition of Klakring to the fleet.
“I could spend my entire speech praising the efforts of the crew, they did an outstanding job. As they depart Klakring they will go on to their next commands and take the fighting spirit of the Klakring with them,” said Hodge.
In more than 29 years of service Klakring completed more than 22 deployments from three home ports and traveled more than 3.2 million miles worldwide during its service time. Those deployments were to the Middle East, South America, Europe and Africa.
Klakring was commissioned on Aug. 20, 1983, and is named after Rear Admiral Thomas B. Klakring (1904-1975), a Navy submarine commander during World War II.
Klakring’s final deployment was to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of responsibility, operating in the Caribbean Sea and off the Coast of South America, in support of Operation Martillio.
Operation Martillio, is a U.S., European, and Western Hemisphere partner nation effort targeting illicit trafficking routes in coastal waters along the Central American isthmus. U.S. military participation is led by Joint Interagency Task Force South, a component of U.S. Southern Command.
The ceremony concluded with the crew of Klakring departing the ship, once the last Sailor crossed the brow, the ship was officially decommissioned.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, March 25, 2013; Image: US Navy