USS Samuel B. Roberts

Commissioned in 1987, the Samuel B. Roberts honors Coxswain Samuel Booker Roberts Jr., who was killed at Guadalcanal in 1942 while guiding his landing craft through Japanese fire to rescue wounded Marines—an act that earned him the Navy Cross posthumously. On April 14, 1988, she earned her own legend when she struck an Iranian mine in the Persian Gulf, nearly sinking; her crew's extraordinary damage control kept her afloat against all odds. She returned to the fleet and served until 2015, and the story of that crew remains a benchmark of seamanship under fire.