USS McCloy (FF-1038)

USS McCloy (FF-1038) was the second and final Bronstein-class frigate. Commissioned as a destroyer escort, the McCloy was redesignated as frigate on 30 June 1975. Decommissioned on 14 December 1990, and stricken from the Navy list on 4 October 1991, the McCLOY was transferred to Mexico on 12 November 1993, where she was recommissioned as Nicolas Bravo. Named for Lt. Comdr. John C. McCloy, recipient of two Medals of Honor.

Early days
McCloy was laid down by the Avondale Shipyard, Inc., Westwego, Louisiana, 15 September 1961; launched 9 June 1962; sponsored by Mrs. Arthur Winstead; and commissioned 21 October 1963 at Charleston, South Carolina, Comdr. Thomas Sherman in command.

Following outfitting and shakedown McCloy, assigned to Escort Squadron 10, reported to her home port, Newport, Rhode Island, in January 1964. In October, after further specialized training, she commenced training sonar technicians. Employed primarily as a schoolship throughout 1965, she also tested new anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapons systems for the Operational Test and Evaluation Force. During this period she enhanced her training and testing capabilities as well as her operational abilities by participating in joint United States-Canadian exercises in the spring and fall and in ASW exercises at the end of the year.

In 1966 cruises saw her in the Bermuda area for NATO exercises (April); off the New England and Virginia coasts for convoy escort and ASW exercises (June, July, and August); and in the Caribbean for fleet tactical exercises (November–December). From 16 January until 24 May 1967 she participated in Match Maker 11. This operation, which took McCloy from the Caribbean to northern Europe, was conducted jointly by American, Dutch, British, and Canadian ships. In what was called "Cross Pollinization," McCloy men transferred to the Dutch destroyer HNLMS Limburg (D814) and the British frigate HMS Berwick (F115) while men of those ships came on board the American escort vessel.

McCloy spent the last half of 1967 and the first months of 1968 at Boston, Massachusetts, undergoing overhaul. She got underway again in March and sailed south, the next month, for refresher training at Guantanamo Bay. Returning to Newport in June, she departed again 8 July for another extended cruise. On the 11th she arrived at San Juan, Puerto Rico where she joined naval units of the United States, Brazil, and Colombia for UNITAS IX. On the 15th, they commenced a clockwise circumnavigation of South America which first involved ships and planes of eight nations in exercises in the Atlantic, then around the Horn to the Pacific for more of the same, and finally through the Panama Canal back into the Caribbean before the end of the year. She continued her operations in the Atlantic into 1969.

McCloy was reclassified as a frigate (FF-1038) on 30 June 1975.

1980s
On 31 October 1983, McCloy snagged K-324, a Soviet Victor III class nuclear-powered attack submarine with her towed array, causing damage to the submarine's propeller. The submarine was towed to Cienfuegos, Cuba for repairs by a Soviet salvage ship beginning on 5 November 1983.

In the late 1980s, McCloy was involved in drug interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea with a United States Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on board. She was involved in several large drug busts including a 50-ton marijuana seizure from the vessel Sea Wanderer in November 1986.

On 27 April 1988 McCloy assisted submarine rescue vessel USS Petrel (ASR-14) and salvage ship USS USS Hoist (ARS-40) (ARS-40) in conducting rescue operations following a fire on submarine USS Bonefish (SS-582).

McCloy was decommissioned on 14 December 1990, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 December 1990, and transferred to Mexico on 1 October 1993 along with her sister ship USS Bronstein (FF-1037). In the Mexican Navy, McCloy was renamed ARM Nicolás Bravo (E40) for Nicolás Bravo, a Mexican politician and soldier. As of June 2010, Nicolás Bravo was still in service with the Mexican Navy.