The US Navy's USS Nicholas (FFG 47) has been decommissioned during a ceremony at Naval Station Norfolk, US, ending its 30-year operational life.

FFG 47 was named to honour Major Samuel Nicholas, who the Continental Congress named as the first commanding officer of the Marines in 1775.

Nicholas conducted the first amphibious landing a year later, leading 200 marines and 50 sailors at Fort Montague, in Nassau, Bahamas, storage site for British ammunitions.

USS Nicholas commanding officer commander Cory Blaser said the ship endured nine deployments during the last seven years.

"She transited the Panama and Suez canals, the English Channel, the straits of Hormuz, Gibraltar and Sicily," Blaser added.

"This crew and this ship have certainly honoured its predecessors and, of course, the Nicholas name."

Supporting Operations Active Endeavor and Ocean Shield, USS Nicholas completed a 5th and 6th Fleet Standing NATO Maritime Group to Counter Piracy Task Force deployment, during its last few years in the Atlantic Fleet.

The warship also patrolled both the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea in support of Operations Active Endeavor and Ocean Shield, NATO's counter piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa
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