USS McCloy
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USS ''McCloy'' (FF-1038) was the second and final . Commissioned as a
destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...
, ''McCloy'' was redesignated as frigate on 30 June 1975. Decommissioned on 14 December 1990, and stricken from the Navy list on 4 October 1991, ''McCloy'' was transferred to Mexico on 12 November 1993, where she was recommissioned as ''Nicolas Bravo''. Named for LCDR John C. McCloy, recipient of two Medals of Honor.


Construction

''McCloy''s
keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...
was laid down by the Avondale Shipyard, Inc.,
Westwego, Louisiana Westwego is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located in Jefferson Parish. It is a suburban community of New Orleans in the Greater New Orleans metropolitan area and lies along the west bank of the Mississippi River. The population of the c ...
, 15 September 1961; launched 9 June 1962; sponsored by Mrs. Arthur Winstead; and commissioned 21 October 1963, at
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...
.


Service history

Following outfitting and shakedown ''McCloy'', assigned to Escort Squadron 10, reported to her home port,
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
, in January 1964. In October, after further specialized training, she commenced training
sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects o ...
technicians. Employed primarily as a schoolship throughout 1965, she also tested new
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...
(ASW) weapons systems for the Operational Test and Evaluation Force. During this period she enhanced her training and testing capabilities as well as her operational abilities by participating in joint United States-Canadian exercises in the spring and fall and in ASW exercises at the end of the year. In 1966 cruises saw her in the
Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...
area for
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
exercises (April); off the
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
and
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
coasts for convoy escort and ASW exercises (June, July, and August); and in the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
for fleet tactical exercises (November–December). From 16 January until 24 May 1967 she participated in exercise Matchmaker III. This operation, which took ''McCloy'' from the Caribbean to
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, was conducted jointly by American, Dutch, British, and Canadian ships. In what was called "Cross Pollinization," ''McCloy'' men transferred to the Dutch destroyer and the British frigate while men of those ships came on board the American escort vessel. also participated in the exercise. ''McCloy'' spent the last half of 1967 and the first months of 1968 at
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, undergoing overhaul. She got underway again in March and sailed south, the next month, for refresher training at
Guantánamo Bay, Cuba Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province. Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton wool. These are traditio ...
. Returning to Newport in June, she departed again 8 July for another extended cruise. On 11 July she arrived at
San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...
where she joined naval units of the United States, Brazil, and Colombia for UNITAS IX. On 15 July, they commenced a clockwise circumnavigation of South America which first involved ships and planes of eight nations in exercises in the Atlantic, then around the
Horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...
to the Pacific for more of the same, and finally through the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
back into the Caribbean before the end of the year. She continued her operations in the Atlantic into 1969. ''McCloy'' was reclassified as a frigate (FF-1038) on 30 June 1975.


1980s

''McCloy'' deployed to the Mediterranean from January to June 1981. During this time frame, her Passive Anti-Submarine Towed Array Sonar Surveillance System (TASS) proved highly capable and successful in extensive tracking of submarines. ''McCloy'' returned to her home port in
Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
in June 1981 only to be sent to sea again on short notice to conduct additional Special ASW operations in the Bermuda "Box". ''McCloy'' departed Norfolk for another Mediterranean Deployment (MED 5–82) from July to December 1982. Using her primary weapon system, her TASS passive sonar system (a system of passive hydrophones towed behind the ship), she was immediately assigned to tracking of
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
submarines in the Mediterranean. Additionally in September 1982, ''McCloy'' was stationed at the entrance to
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
, Lebanon harbor where an active conflict was ongoing between Israel and the
Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
(PLO). She was assigned and completed the escort of nine ships used in the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
-arranged PLO evacuation from Beirut, escorting the ships to safe haven ports in the Mediterranean. ''McCloy'' received a Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) for unsurpassed ASW accomplishments from 8 June to 22 December 1982 during this deployment. She also received the Sixth Fleet "Hook Em" Award and was designated as the Best ASW Ship in the Atlantic Fleet during the period 1 October 1980 to 31 March 1982 by Commander Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Following this highly successful Med deployment, ''McCloy'' again conducted Special ASW Operations in the Western Atlantic Bermuda "Box" environment. On 31 October 1983, ''McCloy'' snagged the , a Soviet Victor III-class nuclear-powered attack submarine with her towed array, causing damage to the submarine's propeller. The submarine was towed to
Cienfuegos Cienfuegos (), capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about from Havana and has a population of 178,368 in 2022. Since the late 1960s, Cienfuegos has become one of Cuba's main industrial centers, ...
, Cuba for repairs by a Soviet
salvage ship A salvage tug, also known historically as a wrecking tug, is a specialized type of tugboat that is used to rescue ships that are in distress or in danger of sinking, or to salvage ships that have already sunk or run aground. Overview Few tugbo ...
beginning on 5 November 1983. In the late 1980s, ''McCloy'' was involved in drug interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea with a
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
law enforcement detachment on board. She was involved in several large drug busts including a 50-ton
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
seizure from the vessel ''Sea Wanderer'' in November 1986. On 27 April 1988 ''McCloy'' assisted submarine rescue vessel and salvage ship in conducting rescue operations following a fire on submarine .NavSource – McCloy


Transfer and Mexican service

''McCloy'' was decommissioned on 14 December 1990, stricken from the
Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...
on 17 December 1990, and transferred to Mexico on 1 October 1993 along with her
sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
. In the
Mexican Navy The Mexican Navy () is one of the components of the Mexican Armed Forces. The Secretariat of the Navy is in charge of administration of the navy. The commander of the navy is the Secretary of the Navy, who is both a cabinet minister and a career ...
, ''McCloy'' was renamed ARM ''Nicolás Bravo'' (E40) for
Nicolás Bravo Nicolás Bravo Rueda (10 September 1786 – 22 April 1854) was a Mexican soldier and politician who served as interim President of Mexico three times, in 1839, 1842, and 1846. Previously, he fought in the Mexican War of Independence, and ser ...
, a Mexican politician and soldier.


Awards

*
Joint Meritorious Unit Award The Joint Meritorious Unit Award (JMUA) is a US military award that was established on June 4, 1981, by Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger and was implemented by Department of Defense Directive 1348.27 dated July 22, 1982. The Joint Meritor ...
*
Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or ...
with star *
Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The United States Army, U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstand ...
*
Navy "E" Ribbon The Navy "E" Ribbon or Battle Efficiency Ribbon (informally the Battle "E" ribbon) was authorized on March 31, 1976, by Secretary of the Navy J. William Middendorf as a unit award for battle efficiency competition. The service ribbon replaced t ...
(2 awards) *
Navy Expeditionary Medal The Navy Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was established in August 1936. Award criteria The General Orders of the Department of the Navy which established the medal states, "The medal will be awarded to t ...
*
National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It was awarded to every member of the U.S. Armed Forces who served during any one of four s ...
with star *
Humanitarian Service Medal The Humanitarian Service Medal (HSM) is a military service medal of the United States Armed Forces which was created on January 19, 1977 by President Gerald Ford under . The medal may be awarded to members of the United States military (incl ...
* Coast Guard Special Operations Service Ribbon * Sea Service Deployment Ribbon with star


Sources

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External links

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gyrodynehelicopters.com Bronstein class
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mccloy (Ff-1038) Bronstein-class frigates Cold War frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Ships built in Bridge City, Louisiana 1962 ships Bravo-class frigates Frigates of Mexico Maritime incidents in 1983