USS Belfast

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History
United States
NameBelfast
NamesakeCity of Belfast, Maine
Builder
Wilmington, California
Laid down26 March 1943
ReclassifiedPF-35, 15 April 1943
Launched20 May 1943
Sponsored byMiss Elizabeth C. Wilson
Commissioned24 November 1943
Decommissioned12 July 1945[1]
Honors and
awards		2
battle stars, World War II
FateTransferred to the Soviet Navy, 12 July 1945
Stricken31 January 1950
Soviet Union
NameEK-3
Acquired12 July 1945
Commissioned12 July 1945
Fate
  • Wrecked, 17 November 1948
  • Scrapped 1960
General characteristics
Class and typeTacoma-class frigate
Displacement
  • 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) light
  • 2,415 long tons (2,454 t) full
Length303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 5,500 shp (4,101 kW) turbines
  • 3 boilers
  • 2 shafts
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement190
Armament

USS Belfast (PF-35), the only ship of the name, was a United States Navy Tacoma-class frigate in commission from 1943 to 1945. She then served in the Soviet Navy as EK-3.

Construction and commissioning

Belfast (PF-35) was laid down on 26 March 1943, at

launched on 20 May 1943, sponsored by Miss Elizabeth C. Wilson, and commissioned at Terminal Island, California, on 24 November 1943.[2]

Service history

US Navy, World War II, 1943–1945

Following

Noemfoor landing on 2 July 1944 and in the assault on Cape Opmarai
on 30 July 1944.

Belfast continued to operate in the waters around western New Guinea until sent to escort a reinforcement convoy to

Philippine Islands during October 1944. She then operated around Leyte from the end of October until the second week in December 1944. Near the end of 1944, she headed back to the United States and arrived at Boston, Massachusetts
, on 24 January 1945 for extensive repairs lasting until spring.

As part of Escort Division 25, Belfast departed

Seattle, Washington, via the Panama Canal. The six patrol frigates arrived at Seattle on 26 April 1945, and Belfast also called at Port Townsend, Washington, at some point. All six patrol frigates got underway for Kodiak in the Territory of Alaska on 7 June 1945. Ogden had to return to Seattle for repairs, but Belfast and the other four frigates arrived at Womens Bay, Kodiak, on 11 June 1945.[3]

On 13 June 1945, Belfast, Long Beach, Glendale, San Pedro, Coronado, and their sister ships USS Charlottesville (PF-25), USS Allentown (PF-52), USS Machias (PF-53), and USS Sandusky (PF-54) got underway from Kodiak for Cold Bay, Alaska, where they arrived on 14 June 1945 to participate in Project Hula, a secret program for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy in anticipation of the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan. Training of Belfast's new Soviet Navy crew soon began at Cold Bay.[4]

Soviet Navy, 1945–1948

Belfast was

Soviet Far East
.

In February 1946, the United States began negotiations with the Soviet Union for the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Navy for use during World War II. On 8 May 1947,

Navy list on 31 January 1950. The only Project Hula frigate not returned to the United States, she was scrapped in the Soviet Union in 1960.[6]

Awards

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

  1. ^
    large infantry landing craft (LCI(L)s) and information on p. 27 about the transfer of USS Coronado (PF-38)
    , which Russell says typified the transfer process – indicating that Belfast's U.S. Navy decommissioning, transfer, and Soviet Navy commissioning all occurred simultaneously on 12 July 1945.
  2. ISBN 9781135864729
    .
  3. ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    , pp 24-25.
  4. ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    , p. 25.
  5. ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    , pp. 27, 39.
  6. ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    , pp. 37–38, 39.

External links
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