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Mayport's final frigate prepares to decommission, but leaves a legacy behind

It’s the end of an era for not just Naval Station Mayport, but the US Navy overall.

The fleet’s final modern frigates are on their way out, with the final Mayport-based frigate, the USS Simpson, being decommissioned at the end of the month. Frigates have long been a staple for the base- something that’s not lost on Mayport’s Commanding Officer.

“I don’t know if you can ever replace a frigate. Especially if you’re a frigate Sailor, they’re going to say you can’t replace a frigate,” says Captain Wesley McCall.

But this move has been a long time coming, and something McCall says they're ready for.

“It’s kind of bittersweet to be honest, to see the last of those frigates leave our basin, but just like anything, the Navy is transitioning- it’s just a sign of things to come,” he says.

“Saved the best for last”- the legacy

Due to an extended deployment, the USS Simpson’s decommissioning was pushed to after the USS Kauffman, which was initially supposed to be the final modern frigate decommissioned by the Navy. That just means the best for last, according to those who have been at the helm.

“I think there were a lot of naysayers about the ships. I think we proved them wrong,” says Captain James McTigue, who served as the USS Simpson’s second Commanding Officer and took the ship on its first ever deployment.

McTigue tells me getting the command of the USS Simpson- his first ever command- was “a dream”.

“I walked on board- I had a very well trained crew, an almost brand new ship, and we were ready to go,” he says.

All of the training by him and his crew was quickly put to the test, however, in a very unexpected way.

In 1988, the USS Samuel B. Roberts- which recently decommissioned at Mayport- was mined, although the crew was able to save the vessel and no lives were lost. The USS Simpson, along with two other ships, led the response, sinking the Iranian vessel Joshan. She's one of only two still-active US Navy ships to have sunken an enemy vessel.

McTigue says, when they first set out, they never expected they would be involved in that kind of offensive, but they were ready.

“You never really think it’s going to happen, because we weren’t engaged in combat with anybody else at the time, we were on patrol. We certainly knew there were high tensions in the Gulf, but we didn’t know the Iranians were going to do something like mine one of our ships, and we responded,” he says.

While their role in sinking the Joshan is what they’ll be remembered for, McTigue says what truly still sticks with him about his crew is their willingness to return to the same region less than a year later.

“Tensions were still high and here we are… we had sunk an Iranian ship- we knew that, they knew that- and we were coming back again. We were walking on eggshells for quite a while there,” he says.

LISTEN: Special report, the legacy of the USS Simpson

The namesake of the ship carries a rich history as well, and respect for that was clear from the carefully bubble-wrapped portrait of Rear Admiral Roger W Simpson which was sitting in the current CO’s quarters, waiting to be shipped out to Simpson’s family. Simpson distinguished himself during World War II through both involvement in a battle that led to the sinking of three Japanese destroyers and by orchestrating action which led thousands of prisoners of war and civilians to be freed from Japanese camps.

The role the USS Simpson has played in modern times may be different, but as she prepares to decommission, the legacy is still prominent.

Preparing for the sendoff

“Being in command of the last frigate and the last ship that sank an enemy ship, it’s humbling to say the least. I mean, the Navy has entrusted me with command, and it’s something that is taken very seriously, and it’s a source of pride, and I’m just glad that I could be the last one,” says the USS Simpson’s current Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander Casey Roskelly.

Roskelly was the Executive Officer for the USS Simpson until they returned from their last deployment, at which point the CO was called away, and he took over. The preparation itself has really been in motion for over a year though, and while Roskelly says it hadn’t been something hanging over the day-to-day work they had been doing during that time, his focus now is giving the ship the best sendoff, and giving the crew closure.

“It’s sad because, you know, when you spend so much time, it’s like a team. I played sports my whole life, and at the end of the season, you part ways.  It’s going to be sad to see some of these guys go, because they really put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears in to this ship,” he says.

That work was evident as I toured the ship with Roskelly and his Executive Officer, Lieutenant Edward Davis.

GALLERY: USS Simpson prepares to decommission

He says the crew has been able to exceed every benchmark in their preparation for decommissioning- from cleaning 30 years of supplies and tools from storage areas to patching up siding. Fitting, considering the legacy Roskelly hopes the USS Simpson will be remembered for.

“When called upon, we met our mission, and we met our objectives. We served out country proudly, and we accomplished everything that we were asked to do,” he says.

Spirit of the USS Simpson

A lot of the character of the USS Simpson can’t be seen any more on the ship itself. The 56 that distinguishes it from other frigates is still present, but almost all of the paintings, portraits, and adornments which speak to the history of the ship have been removed.  That memorabilia goes to the family of the namesake or to a naval museum, meaning the history will still live on, but seeing the ship live on as well is something that means a lot to the base.

Following her formal decommissioning, the USS Simpson will head to Philadelphia for final work before being sold to a foreign military. Captain McCall says losing the ship is easier because they know they’ll see it again.

“It’s going to be out there serving alongside us again in the future. It may not be called the USS Simpson, but it will still have the spirit,” he says.

And Lieutenant Commander Roskelly believes the spirit will stick with the roughly 200 Sailors and Officers on the decommissioning crew as well.

“They can say they served their country with pride, and that the ship was better off when they left than when they got here,” Roskelly says.

Some of the crew will move to a different base, but many will remain in Mayport, assigned to a new ship or to a shore duty. As they’ve been helping the crew transition, Roskelly says he’s noticed that many of the families want to stay in Mayport.

“The future of Mayport is bright”

Captain McCall is always happy to see Sailors and their families not only want to come, but to stay, at Mayport- especially at a time when there is so much of a transition happening.

“I only wish that I could be around here in 30 years to see what this place actually turns in to. I’m very proud of where we are and where we’re going,” he says.

While we're losing the frigates- which were once a staple of the base- Mayport is growing in other ways.  The base recently gained three ships which comprise an Amphibious Ready Group- the USS Iwo Jima, USS Fort McHenry, and USS New York- and in total, they brought about 1,700 Sailors and their families to the First Coast. Mayport will also be the East Coast homeport of the new Littoral Combat Ships. The first LCS is expected late 2016, with eight coming to Mayport by the end of the decade and another dozen in out years.

LISTEN: Special report, Mayport's future without frigates

For an industrial base that’s been so driven by frigates, McCall says there’s a lot of work still to do to prepare. He says they’re nonetheless in a good position, and will get to start testing their capabilities later this year, when two LCS based elsewhere come through for work.

“I think they’re [the Sailors are] really going to enjoy the technology, I think they’re going to enjoy the living conditions on board the ship, and I think they’re going to enjoy the missions and the capabilities that those ships will bring to the fleet, getting closer to where we need to be to fight our future wars,” McCall says.

Mayport already has an LCS support center under construction and a training center is coming soon. McCall says in the end they will even have simulators of the bridge of the ship in order to give Sailors hands on practice.

For Congressman Ander Crenshaw, the continued investment the Navy is making toward the LCS in Mayport is a sign the base is in a solid position.

“The world has changed, and I think these new Littoral Combat Ships, they are the ship of the future. The fact that we’re going to maintain and modernize these cruisers, I think they’ll be more effective, more efficient. As the world changes, the Navy has to change with it,” Crenshaw says.

He wants to make sure the Navy’s fleet stays large enough to keep a presence where we’re needed.

Saying good-bye

Captain McTigue says he wouldn’t miss the decommissioning ceremony “for the world”, but when I asked what he will think when he stands next to the ship for the final time, he was at a loss for words.

“There’s going to be a big lump in my throat, I can tell you that right now,” he says.

While he admits he hasn’t kept up with many of the people he served with while on the USS Simpson, McTigue says he still considers them family.

“To have that kind of crew and to have that kind of ship, I look back on it and I think ‘how did I ever get so lucky to be in that position’,” he says.

Lieutenant Commander Roskelly is still working out exactly what he’ll say at the podium, but he’s happy the crew will get a payoff for what they’ve been doing.

“I think everyone’s looking forward to it, because we’ve put so much hard work in to it,” he says.

Captain McCall says they'll be able to rename 'Frigate Alley', where the USS Simpson now sits as the final frigate for the base. He says they'll be able to find new positions for the Sailors who were serving on the ship. He says Mayport will move forward.

But he says they won’t try to replace the frigate, because you can’t.

“You can upgrade the mission capabilities, you can have the same capabilities with the Littoral Combat Ship or whatever ship the Navy procures. It will be just as lethal and just as capable as what we have today, it has to be,” he says.

McCall doesn’t know exactly how the base will be defined another 30 years down the road, but he believes that future is bright.

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