USS Tacoma (PF-3)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Tacoma.

USS Tacoma (PF-3), off San Francisco, 11 December 1943
History
United States
NameTacoma
NamesakeCity of Tacoma, Washington
Orderedas a
MCE hull 1421[1]
BuilderPermanente Metals Richmond Shipyard #4, Richmond, California
Yard number46[1]
Laid down10 March 1943
ReclassifiedPatrol Frigate (PF), 15 April 1943
Launched7 July 1943
Sponsored byMrs. A. R. Bergersen
Commissioned6 November 1943
Decommissioned16 August 1945
Identification
Fatetransferred to Soviet Navy, 16 August 1945
Soviet Union
NameEK-11[b]
Acquired16 August 1945
Commissioned16 August 1945[a]
Decommissioned16 October 1949
Fatereturned to United States, 16 October 1949
United States
NameTacoma
Acquired16 October 1949
Recommissioned1 December 1950
DecommissionedOctober 1951
Honors and
awards
battle stars for Korean War
service
Fatetransferred to Republic of Korea Navy, 9 October 1951
South Korea
NameTaedong
NamesakeTaedong County, South Pyongan Province
Acquired9 October 1951
Decommissioned28 February 1973
IdentificationHull symbol: F-63
Fatereturned to United States, 28 February 1973
United States
NameTacoma
Acquired28 February 1973
Stricken20 April 1973
Fatedonated to Republic of Korea Navy, 1 June 1973
South Korea
Acquired1 June 1973
FatePreserved
StatusMuseum ship
General characteristics [2]
Class and type
Tacoma-class
patrol frigate
Displacement
  • 1,430 long tons (1,450 t) (light load)
  • 2,415 long tons (2,454 t) (full load)
Length303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2 × Vertical
    triple-expansion steam engine
  • 2 × shafts
Speed20.3 kn (37.6 km/h; 23.4 mph)
Complement190
Armament

USS Tacoma (PG-111/PF-3), the

patrol frigates. The third ship of the United States Navy to be named for Tacoma, Washington, she was in commission from 1943 to 1945, and from 1949 to 1951. She also served in the Soviet Navy as EK-11 and in the Republic of Korea Navy
as ROKS Taedong (PF-63).

Construction and commissioning

Tacoma was laid down on 10 March 1943, under a

launched on 7 July 1943; sponsored by Mrs. A. R. Bergersen; and commissioned
on 6 November 1943.

Service history

US Navy, World War II, 1943–1945

After completing

anti-submarine patrols and escorted supply ships and transports along the Alaskan coast and between the islands of the Aleutians chain, visiting Attu, Adak, Dutch Harbor, and other smaller Alaskan ports.[3]

Selected for transfer to the

Bremerton, Washington, to prepare for transfer to the Soviet Union.[3] On 10 July 1945, she arrived at Cold Bay, and began familiarization training with her new Soviet crew.[3]

Soviet Navy, 1945–1949

Following the completion of training for her Soviet crew, Tacoma was

Soviet Far East.[5]

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 returned, EK-11 among them. Negotiations for the return of the ships were protracted, but on 16 October 1949, the Soviet Union finally returned EK-11 to the US Navy at Yokosuka, Japan.[6]

US Navy, Korean War, 1950–1951

Reverting to her original name, Tacoma remained out of commission at Yokosuka, in a caretaker status, until the outbreak of the

Sasebo, Japan. On 28 December 1950, Tacoma headed for the east coast of Korea.[3]

For the next few months, Tacoma operated with the

Yangyang, and then on Hwangpo, on 9 and 10 February 1951. When not pounding Hwangpo, Tacoma patrolled off Chikute Island. She returned to Sasebo, on 13 February 1951, and remained there until 19 February 1951, when she headed for Wonsan harbor in North Korea. She arrived off Wonsan, on 22 February 1951, and for the next four days joined in the operations which resulted in the successful landing of 110 Republic of Korea Marines on Sin Do, on 24 February 1951. The following day, she cleared Wonsan channel to return to Sasebo. She arrived at Sasebo, on 27 February 1951, and remained there until 10 March 1951, when she got underway for Yokosuka, and restricted repairs which lasted until 23 April 1951.[3]

On 3 April 1951, the United States

Naval Forces Far East (NavFE) organization was restructured. As a result, the Service Forces, previously fragmented among separate United States Seventh Fleet and NavFE groups, were consolidated into a new Logistics Group, designated Task Force 92. When Tacoma emerged from the shipyard at Yokosuka, in late April 1951, she was assigned to the new task organization as an escort, and she served in that capacity for the remainder of her US Navy career. From then until September 1951, she escorted supply ships between Japanese and Korean ports and to stations along the Korean coast, where she replenished United Nations warships. She also conducted anti-submarine patrols and participated in occasional shore bombardments.[3]

Republic of Korea Navy, 1951–1973

On 9 October 1951, the United States transferred Tacoma to the

Navy list on 2 April 1973, and subsequently donated her to the Republic of Korea Navy as a museum and training ship.[3]

Awards

The US Navy awarded Tacoma three

battle stars for her service during the Korean War.[3]

Notes

  1. ^
    large infantry landing craft (LCI(L)s) and information on p. 27 about the transfer of Coronado (PF-38)
    , which Russell says typified the transfer process. As sources, Russell cites Department of the Navy, Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels Volume II, 1 January 1949, (NAVSHIPS 250-012), Washington, DC: Bureau of Ships, 1949; and Berezhnoi, S. S., Flot SSSR: Korabli i suda lendliza: Spravochnik ("The Soviet Navy: Lend-Lease Ships and Vessels: A Reference"), St. Petersburg, Russia: Belen, 1994.
  2. ^
    Soviet service and NavSource Online: Frigate Photo Archive Tacoma (PF 3) ex-PG-111,[2] repeats this, but Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan,[4] which includes access to Soviet-era records unavailable during the Cold War
    , reports that the ship's Soviet name was EK-11. As sources, Russell cites Department of the Navy, Ships Data: U.S. Naval Vessels Volume II, 1 January 1949, (NAVSHIPS 250-012), Washington, DC: Bureau of Ships, 1949; and Berezhnoi, S. S., Flot SSSR: Korabli i suda lendliza: Spravochnik ("The Soviet Navy: Lend-Lease Ships and Vessels: A Reference"), St. Petersburg, Russia: Belen, 1994.

References

  1. ^ a b Kaiser No. 4 2014.
  2. ^ a b Navsource.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i DANFS 2015.
  4. ^ a b Russell 1997, p. 39.
  5. ^ Russell 1997, pp. 34, 35, 39.
  6. ^ Russell 1997, pp. 37–38, 39.

Bibliography

  • "Tacoma III (PF-3)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2017.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  • "Kaiser Permanente No. 4, Richmond CA". ShipbuildingHistory.com. 5 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  • "USS Tacoma (PF-3)". Navsource.org. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  • Russell, Richard A. (1997). Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan. Washington, D.C.:
    ISBN 0-945274-35-1
    .

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=USS_Tacoma_(PF-3)&oldid=1203173470"