USS Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7), lead ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates, was named for Oliver Hazard Perry, American naval hero, who was victorious at the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) was the first ship and, as of 2015, the only ship of that name in the U.S. Navy. Oliver Hazard Perry was in service from 1977 to 1997 and was scrapped in 2005.
The class was originally intended as austere 'low' category guided missile frigates (compared with the high capability Spruance class) for General Purpose and Anti-Air convoy escort. They were built under a cloud of controversy, with their very light gun armament and lack of redundancy and duplicated systems in event of ship being hit. They were regarded by the Reagan administration and Secretary John Lehman as not part of the 500 ship navy plan, but ultimately proved useful as anti-submarine ships if fitted to carry Seahawks and towed arrays and in the 21C as low grade patrol ships making up the numbers in a USN desperately short of escorts.