USS Poughkeepsie, PF-26

March 24, 2021 PRINT | E-MAIL

USS Poughkeepsie, PF-26  

 

A city on the east bank of the Hudson River, 65 miles north of New York City.  

 

Builder:  Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin 

Length:  303' 11"

Beam:  37' 6"

Draft:  12' 8" fl

Displacement: 2,230 tons

Propulsion:  2-shaft VTE, 3 boilers

Range:  9,500 nm at 12 knots

Top speed:  20 knots

Complement:  190

Armament: 3 x 3"/50; 2 x 40mm (2x2); 9 x 20mm; 1 x Hedgehog, 8 x depth charge projectors; 2 x depth charge racks.  For those frigates fitted out for weather patrol duty, the after 3-inch gun was removed and a weather balloon hanger was added aft.

 

History:

Poughkeepsie (PF-26), a frigate, was laid down for the Maritime Commission 3 June 1943 by Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin.  She was launched 12 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Frank M. Doran; and transferred to the Navy and commissioned 6 September 1944, with Commander. Q. M. Greeley, USCG, in command. After shakedown off Bermuda, Poughkeepsie called at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for post shakedown availability 29 October through 31 January 1945.

During February and March, she made one convoy escort run to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Then after ASW training in the New London Operating Area at the end of March, she commenced ASW patrols and convoy escort duties along the east coast, operating between New York and Norfolk through 3 July 1945.

Standing out of New York Harbor 9 July, the frigate transited the Panama Canal, reported to Commander, Pacific Fleet for duty, and put in at Seattle, Wash, to prepare for transfer to the Soviet Union.  She was leased to the Soviets 2 October 1945, who then commissioned her as EK-27.  She served under the Red flag until 31 October 1949, when she was returned to the United States at Yokosuka, Japan.

Poughkeepsie remained at Yokosuka in an inactive status until nominated for transfer to SCAJAP 23 March 1951 for weather patrol duties.  Transferred on loan to Japan 14 January 1953, the frigate was renamed Momi and commenced operations under the Japanese flag.  Struck from the Naval Vessel Register 1 December 1961, she was transferred to the Japanese outright on 28 August 1962.  Decommissioned on 1 April 1965, she was used as a nonoperable dockside training ship until early 1969 when she was transferred to South Korea for cannibalization.

  

Sources:

The Coast Guard At War, Transports and Escorts, Vol. V, No. 1.  

Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946.  London: Conway Maritime Press, 1992, pp. 148-149.

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. V, p. 364.

Russell, Richard A.  Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan.  No. 4.  The U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series.  Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1997.