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USS Taylor To Open For Public Tours

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 18, 2008

TAMPA - TAMPA - As the USS Taylor tied up to its dock near Channelside on Friday, a small contingent of women from earlier wars and a different Navy was there to hold up signs of greeting.

"We come down to greet them when we know about it," said Barbara J. McGuire, president of the Tampa Bay WAVES, Unit 55.

The five women served either in World War II or the Vietnam War as part of the U.S. Navy. Formed in 1942, WAVES stands for Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service.

But during WWII women weren't allowed overseas except for hospital duty. Hospital ships were the only vessels they could serve on.

The women were there at the start of the Taylor's four-day stay in Tampa as part of Tampa Navy Week leading up to the Gasparilla Day Parade.

Starting Saturday the public will be able to tour the Taylor.

The frigate – FFG-50 – is part of the Fifth Fleet with the home port in Mayport, near Jacksonville.
During the stay in Tampa, the 200-member crew will be given shore leave and take part in Saturday's Children's Gasparilla Parade, said its skipper, Commander Kurush Morris.

Originally commissioned in 1984 as a guided missile frigate, the 453-foot vessel no longer carries missiles. Instead, to go with changes in the Taylor's type of mission, it carries more direct fire weapons such as machine guns and cannons.

Morris said the frigate returned from deployment in March 2007 and is now finished with training and maintenance and is ready to deploy again.

Its last mission was off the Horn of Africa, patrolling the waters east of Africa for pirates and smugglers.

Morris called it "maritime interception." He did not know when or where the frigate would be deployed on its next mission.

Visit http://www.tampanavyweek.com/TNW_SoE.html to find a schedule of Tampa Navy Week events.

Reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731 or njohnson@tampatrib.com.

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