USS Beaufort (PF-59)
USS Beaufort (PF-59)
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Beaufort |
Namesake | City of Beaufort, South Carolina |
Ordered | As "patrol gunboat," PG-167, MC Type T. S2-S2-AQ1, (MC hull 1466) |
Reclassified | "Patrol frigate," PF-59, 15 April 1943 |
Builder | Globe Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin |
Laid down | 21 July 1943 |
Launched | 9 October 1943 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Elma G. Rodgers |
In service | 20 July 1944 |
Out of service | 29 July 1944 |
Commissioned | 28 August 1944 as USS Beaufort (PF-59) |
Refit | Converted to a weather station ship at the Boston Navy Yard |
Decommissioned | 19 April 1946 at Norfolk, Virginia |
Stricken | 21 May 1946 |
Fate | Scrapped, 11 April 1947 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Tacoma-class frigate |
Displacement | 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) |
Length | 303 ft 11 in (92.63 m) |
Beam | 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) |
Draft | 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m) |
Propulsion | two 3-drum express boilers, two 5,500 ihp J. Hendy Iron Works engines, two shafts |
Speed | 20.3 knots (37.6 km/h; 23.4 mph) |
Complement | 176 officers and enlisted |
Armament |
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Notes | weather balloon hangar located aft |
USS Beaufort (PF-59) was a
patrol craft, she was reconfigured and employed as a weather station ship in the North Atlantic Ocean. Beaufort's task was to launch weather balloons
and transmit weather data via radio to her shore-based commanders.
Constructed in Superior, Wisconsin
The third U.S Navy ship to be so named, Beaufort (PF-59) laid down on 21 July 1943, at
U.S. Maritime Commission
contract (MC hull 1466); launched on 9 October 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Elma G. Rodgers; accepted by the Navy on 8 July 1944.
In-service
Beaufort was placed in service for the trip to Boston, Massachusetts; arrived at Boston on 20 July 1944; placed out of service on 29 July 1944; converted to a weather station ship at the Boston Navy Yard; and commissioned on 28 August 1944.
World War II service
During the following week, Beaufort completed fitting out. On 8 September, she got underway for a shakedown cruise to Bermuda.
The ship arrived back at Boston on 6 October. After a nine-day repair period, the patrol frigate headed for Hussey Sound – near
Argentia, Newfoundland
. During the remainder of World War II and for some seven months thereafter, she operated out of Argentia as a weather station ship with additional duty as a plane guard and air-sea rescue ship.
Under Coast Guard cognizance
In March 1946, she was temporarily assigned to the
5th Naval District, on 28 March 1946 and was decommissioned at Norfolk, Virginia
, on 19 April 1946.
Post-war dispositioning
Her name was struck from the
Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania
, on 11 April 1947 for scrapping.
References
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Photo gallery of USS Beaufort (PG-167/PF-59) at NavSource Naval History