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USS Capodanno (FF 1093)

USS CAPODANNO was the 42^nd KNOX - class frigate. Decommissioned on July 30, 1993, the CAPODANNO was subsequently leased to Turkey where she was recommissioned as MAUVENET. Stricken from the Navy list on January 11, 1995, the CAPODANNO was finally sold to Turkey on February 22, 2002.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS CAPODANNO. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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USS CAPODANNO History:

USS CAPODANNO (DE 1093), later USS CAPODANNO (FF 1093), was a KNOX-class ocean escort and frigate named for Lieutenant Vincent Robert Capodanno, a Roman Catholic Navy chaplain and Medal of Honor recipient who was killed in Vietnam on September 4, 1967, while serving with Marines in Quang Tin Province. The construction contract for USS CAPODANNO was awarded to Avondale Shipyards on August 25, 1966, and she was laid down at Avondale Shipyards on October 12, 1971. The ship was launched on October 21, 1972, acquired by the Navy on October 18, 1973, and commissioned at Mayport, Florida, on November 17, 1973, with Commander George W. Horsley Jr. in command.

At commissioning, USS CAPODANNO was classified as DE 1093, an ocean escort. During her first period in commission, USS CAPODANNO completed post-commissioning training, shakedown activity, fleet integration, and early Atlantic Fleet operations from Mayport. USS CAPODANNO's first major deployment was to the Mediterranean, where she operated with the United States Sixth Fleet. This placed her in a politically sensitive maritime theater shaped by Cold War competition with the Soviet Navy, the aftermath of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, and instability around the eastern Mediterranean. During this first Mediterranean deployment, she was credited with four search-and-rescue actions in which twenty-two lives were saved.

On April 4, 1975, Commander Robert D. Frey relieved Commander Horsley as commanding officer. At the end of June 1975, during the Navy-wide reclassification of ships, USS CAPODANNO was redesignated from DE 1093 to FF 1093. The redesignation did not change her basic role, but formally placed her in the frigate category. Through 1975 and into 1976, she continued as a Mayport-based Atlantic Fleet frigate, maintaining antisubmarine readiness and preparing for further overseas operations.

In 1976, USS CAPODANNO deployed with the Middle East Force. This deployment took her into the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf environment at a time when United States naval presence there was becoming increasingly significant. The 1973 oil crisis had emphasized the strategic importance of maritime energy routes, Soviet naval activity in the Indian Ocean had expanded, and the United States was strengthening its routine naval presence around the Arabian Peninsula and western Indian Ocean. On April 9, 1977, Commander Francis W. Boufford relieved Commander Frey.

In 1977, USS CAPODANNO deployed to South American waters for UNITAS XVIII. UNITAS was the annual series of exercises between the United States Navy and Latin American navies, intended to improve communications, antisubmarine procedures, seamanship, and multinational naval cooperation throughout the Western Hemisphere. USS CAPODANNO was photographed in the Panama Canal in 1977 during this UNITAS deployment, confirming her movement between Atlantic and Pacific operating areas as part of the exercise cycle. As with many UNITAS deployments, the cruise involved a sequence of bilateral and multinational training events with several South American navies.

In 1978, USS CAPODANNO began her first extensive overhaul at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine. This was her first major industrial period after commissioning. After the overhaul, USS CAPODANNO was reassigned to Commander, Naval Surface Group Four, and her home port was changed to Newport, Rhode Island, on December 21, 1978. This move placed her in the Newport-based surface force, where she continued Atlantic and allied-oriented service.

In 1979, USS CAPODANNO again deployed to the Mediterranean. This returned her to the Sixth Fleet area at a time when allied naval forces continued to monitor Soviet activity and regional instability across the Mediterranean. During this period, she earned the Battle Efficiency "E", reflecting readiness and performance within her competitive group.

On March 14, 1980, Commander Bernard L. Patterson III relieved Commander Boufford. During 1980, USS CAPODANNO participated in Teamwork 80, a major allied exercise designed to test command-and-control procedures, antisubmarine warfare, replenishment, convoy protection, and maritime operations in the North Atlantic and northern European environment. These exercises were strategically important because they practiced the reinforcement of Europe and the protection of Atlantic sea lanes in a potential Cold War crisis. She earned another Battle Efficiency "E" in this period.

In 1981, USS CAPODANNO returned to South American waters for UNITAS XXII. VC-6 Detachment Delta deployed with the ship on June 15, 1981, and operated target drones during the exercise period, with MQM-74C launches recorded on June 24 and June 27, 1981. This confirms that USS CAPODANNO's UNITAS work included coordinated fleet-training events involving aerial target services, supporting gunnery, missile, or air-defense training for participating ships. UNITAS XXII also involved other United States units and included operations with South American navies. Later in 1981, USS CAPODANNO was connected with a ceremonial event tied to her namesake: on September 4, 1981, the fourteenth anniversary of Lieutenant Capodanno's death, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic blessing for the ship and her crew.

On March 26, 1982, Captain Robert Anson Jr. relieved Commander Patterson. In November 1982, USS CAPODANNO began her third Mediterranean deployment. This deployment became connected with the crisis in Lebanon. After the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the evacuation of Palestine Liberation Organization forces from Beirut, the United States joined France, Italy, and later the United Kingdom in the Multinational Force in Lebanon. United States naval forces off Lebanon provided communications, presence, logistics, and, when ordered, naval support to forces ashore. USS CAPODANNO served during this deployment as a naval gunfire support ship connected with the multinational peacekeeping force. She received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for this Lebanon-related service.

After returning from the 1982 Mediterranean deployment, USS CAPODANNO entered another major overhaul and modernization period at Bath Iron Works. On June 1, 1983, she was photographed during a naval gunfire support training exercise in the Chesapeake Bay, including views of her fire-control center and the use of her 5-inch gun in a training environment. This training was directly related to the type of shore-support mission she had recently performed off Lebanon. In 1983, she earned a third Battle Efficiency "E", marking another period of recognized operational readiness.

On March 3, 1984, Commander Thomas S. O'Keefe Jr. relieved Captain Anson. In 1984, USS CAPODANNO completed her overhaul and then refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Refresher training there was a standard Atlantic Fleet process after overhaul, evaluating engineering, damage control, weapons, navigation, communications, and watchstanding under demanding conditions. For USS CAPODANNO, it restored full operational proficiency after her industrial period at Bath and prepared her for another overseas deployment cycle.

In October 1985, USS CAPODANNO deployed to the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean region with the USS CORAL SEA (CV 43) battle group. This deployment unfolded during the period of escalating confrontation between the United States and Libya in the central Mediterranean and Gulf of Sidra. The wider operational setting included Libyan maritime claims, United States freedom-of-navigation operations, Libyan air-defense activity, and, in April 1986, Operation El Dorado Canyon. The USS CORAL SEA deployment ran from October 1, 1985, to May 19, 1986, and contemporary imagery shows USS CAPODANNO operating with the USS CORAL SEA group in May 1986, along with ships including USS DE WERT (FFG 45), USS BIDDLE (CG 34), USS JACK WILLIAMS (FFG 24), as well as an oiler and an ammunition ship. USS CAPODANNO is credited in ship summaries with service during the deployment that included strike operations against Libya and she received the Navy Unit Commendation.

On April 7, 1986, Commander Terry R. Sheffield relieved Commander O'Keefe. USS CAPODANNO returned from the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean deployment in May 1986. After returning, she completed a short overhaul at Boston, Massachusetts. That post-deployment industrial period was followed by additional training, and in March 1987 she completed refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. During the rest of 1987, she carried out naval gunfire support and antisubmarine warfare training. In September 1987, she participated in Ocean Safari 87 in the Norwegian Sea and fjords. Ocean Safari was a major allied exercise intended to test operations in the North Atlantic and northern waters, including antisubmarine operations, carrier and surface-force movement, and maritime support in the environment through which Soviet Northern Fleet submarines and surface ships would have moved in a crisis.

On February 26, 1988, USS CAPODANNO was photographed underway alongside USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (CVN 69) during an underway replenishment. On February 29, 1988, she began her fifth Mediterranean deployment. This deployment was associated with the USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER operating cycle, which ran from February 29, 1988, to August 29, 1988. The carrier deployment included exercises such as Dragon Hammer, Poopdeck, Optimize, and Juniper Falconry.

On July 20, 1988, Commander Thomas S. Zysk relieved Commander Sheffield. USS CAPODANNO remained in the Atlantic Fleet, operating from Newport and continuing the normal cycle of maintenance, local operations, type training, inspections, and fleet exercises. On May 18, 1990, Commander Bud S. Gear relieved Commander Zysk. USS CAPODANNO's recorded awards include the Southwest Asia Service Medal, which indicates qualifying service connected to the Southwest Asia operations period established for the Persian Gulf War era.

On March 26, 1992, Commander Thomas P. Gallagher III relieved Commander Gear and became the final commanding officer of USS CAPODANNO in United States Navy service. In July 1992, USS CAPODANNO was photographed at Newport, Rhode Island. Patch evidence from HSL-32 Detachment 5 also links her to counter-drug operations in 1992. On October 16, 1992, USS CAPODANNO was photographed at sea while en route to the Mediterranean with the USS JOHN F. KENNEDY (CV 67) battle group. The USS JOHN F. KENNEDY deployment ran from October 7, 1992, to April 7, 1993. This deployment took place during the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Bosnian War. The deployment record links the battle group with Operation Provide Promise, the humanitarian airlift and relief effort for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

USS CAPODANNO returned from that final Mediterranean deployment in 1993. On May 28, 1993, she was photographed at Naval Station New York on Staten Island. This visit was notable because Staten Island was closely associated with Lieutenant Capodanno's background and memory. By then the Cold War had ended, the Soviet Union had dissolved, and the United States Navy was reducing and reshaping its surface fleet. KNOX-class frigates, many of which had been built for Cold War antisubmarine escort missions, were being retired, transferred, or removed from front-line service as newer ships and different post-Cold War priorities took precedence.

USS CAPODANNO was decommissioned on July 30, 1993, after nearly twenty years of United States Navy service. On the same date, she was leased to Turkey and entered Turkish service as TCG MUAVENET (F-250). The transfer followed the 1992 loss of the previous Turkish ship named TCG MUAVENET, which had been severely damaged when USS SARATOGA (CV 60) accidentally fired Sea Sparrow missiles at her during an allied exercise in the Aegean region, killing and injuring Turkish sailors. The former USS CAPODANNO therefore continued in service with an allied navy under a name of particular significance in Turkish naval memory. She was struck from the United States Naval Vessel Register on January 11, 1995. On February 22, 2002, she was formally transferred to Turkey through the Security Assistance Program. She was removed from active Turkish service in 2012, and Turkish naval-observer reporting documented her final voyage to the scrapyard at Aliaga, Izmir, in September 2012.

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About the Ship's Name:

Vincent Robert Capodanno was born in Richmond County, New York on February 13, 1929. As an avid swimmer and great sports enthusiast, this native Staten Islander led the active life of an American boy. After his 1947 graduation from Curtis High School, he began a rigorous curriculum in preparation for the priesthood. Following a year's study at Fordham University, Capodanno attended Maryknoll Seminaries in Massachusetts and New York receiving the degrees of Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Master of Religious Education. Then on June 7, 1957, he was ordained by the late Cardinal Spellman and shortly after, fervently devoted eight years of Catholic Missionary service to the needy peoples of Taiwan and Hong Kong. Volunteering his services as Navy Chaplain on December 28, 1965, Father Capodanno received his commission as a Lieutenant in the Chaplain Corps of the United States Naval Reserve.

After completing orientation at the Naval Chaplain's School, Newport, Rhode Island, Lieutenant Capodanno requested duty with the Marines in Vietnam. Joining the First Marine Division in 1966, Father Capodanno immediately began making his presence in the combat operation of Chu Lai a regular part of his duties as Battalion Chaplain.

To stay with his men, Chaplain Capodanno even relinquished thirty days of Christmas holiday leave and after serving one year, he extended his tour of duty for six months on the condition that he be allowed to remain with the infantry. Father Capodanno's greatest desire was just that - to remain with his troops and to experience their fears and give them moral support. Then on the morning of September 4, 1967, the decision was no longer his to make. In an act that so typified his love for life and for the lives of others, Father Capodanno was fatally wounded by enemy sniper fire in Quang Tin Provence.

In January 1969, Lieutenant Vincent R. Capodanno became the second Chaplain in the history of the United States Navy to receive the Nation's highest military honor. "For conspicious gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty . . ", he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. In addition, Chaplain Capodanno earned the National Defense Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal. The government of Vietnam awarded him the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Silver Star and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal with device. Another lasting tribute was paid Father Capodanno on February 7, 1968, when the Newport Naval Base dedicated the Capodanno Memorial Chapel in his honor.

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USS CAPODANNO Patch Gallery:

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USS CAPODANNO Image Gallery:

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