AThe USS Oliver Hazard Perry was the first of this 51-ship class - at the time, the largest U.S. Navy class since World War II. The effort to design and build a new open-ocean escort vessel was launched in 1970 to replace a large number of WWII-era warships in an affordable fashion. The contest to design the frigates was won by Bath Iron Works, and the program became a model for other U.S. shipbuilders when it began delivering ships on time and under budget.
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