She was born into tension and secrecy, commissioned in 1982 to stalk submarines and guard convoys in the shadow of nuclear brinkmanship. Named for Rodney Maxwell Davis, a Marine who fell saving his comrades, the frigate carried that legacy across the world’s oceans—patrolling contested waters, drilling with allies, and quietly enforcing the fragile rules of maritime order. For decades, sailors slept in her steel belly, painted her decks, cursed her engines, and trusted her hull.
