USS Charlottesville

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

USS Charlottesville in 1948
History
United States
NameCharlottesville
NamesakeCity of
Charlottesville
, Virginia
ReclassifiedPF-25, 15 April 1943
Builder
Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin
Laid down12 May 1943
Launched30 July 1943
Sponsored byMrs. J. E. Gleason
Commissioned10 April 1944
Decommissioned12 July 1945
Honors and
awards		2
battle stars, World War II
FateTransferred to the Soviet Navy, 12 July 1945[1]
AcquiredReturned by Soviet Navy, 17 October 1949
FateTransferred to Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 14 January 1953
Soviet Union
NameEK-1
Acquired12 July 1945[1]
Commissioned12 July 1945[1]
FateReturned to United States, 17 October 1949
Japan
NameMatsu
Acquired14 January 1953
RenamedYAS-36, 31 March 1966
ReclassifiedAuxiliary service vessel (YAS) 31 March 1966
Decommissioned31 March 1969
Fate
  • Returned to United States, 12 July 1972
  • Final disposition unknown
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 11 in (11.56 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 Charlottesville (PF-25), a

Charlottesville, Virginia. She later served in the Soviet Navy as EK-1 and in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
as JDS Matsu (PF-6), JDS Matsu (PF-286) and YAS-36.

Construction and commissioning

Originally classified as a patrol

Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. J. E. Gleason, wife of the mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia. The ship was commissioned
on 10 April 1944.

Service history

U.S. Navy, World War II, 1944–1945

Departing

Leyte in the Philippines for Seattle, Washington
.

Earmarked for transfer to the Soviet Navy 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, Charlottesville steamed to Kodiak in the Territory of Alaska after the completion of overhaul and modifications at Seattle. On 13 June 1945, Charlottesville joined her sister ships USS Long Beach (PF-34), USS Belfast (PF-35), USS Glendale (PF-36), USS San Pedro (PF-37), USS Coronado (PF-38), USS Allentown (PF-52), USS Machias (PF-53), and USS Sandusky (PF-54) in getting underway from Kodiak for Cold Bay, Alaska, where they arrived on 14 June 1945 to enter Project Hula. Training of Charlottesville's new Soviet Navy crew soon began at Cold Bay.[2]

Soviet Navy, 1945–1949

Charlottesville was

Soviet Far East.[3]

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

James V. Forrestal informed the United States Department of State that the United States Department of the Navy wanted 480 of the 585 combatant ships it had transferred to the Soviet Union for World War II use returned, EK-1 among them. Negotiations for the return of the ships was protracted, but on 17 October 1949 the Soviet Union finally returned EK-1 to the U.S. Navy at Yokosuka, Japan.[4]

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 1953–1972

For other ships with the same name, see Japanese ship Matsu.

Reverting to her former name, Charlottesville was laid up in the

Pacific Reserve Fleet at Yokosuka, and remained idle until the United States loaned her to Japan on 14 January 1953 for service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, which renamed her JDS Matsu (PF-6) (まつ (PF-6), "pine tree").[5] Matsu was redesignated PF-286 on 1 September 1957.[5] She was reclassified as an "auxiliary service vessel" and renamed YAS-36 on 31 March 1966.[5]
Decommissioned on 31 March 1969, she was returned to U.S. custody on 12 July 1972. Her fate thereafter is unknown.

Awards

The US Navy awarded Charlottesville two

battle stars for service in World War II
.

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 Charlottesville's U.S. Navy decommissioning, transfer, and Soviet Navy commissioning all occurred simultaneously on 12 July 1945.
  2. ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    , p. 25.
  3. ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    , pp. 27, 39.
  4. ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    , pp. 37-38, 39.
  5. ^ a b c The Naval Database.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Charlottesville&oldid=1151668084"