USS Huron, PF-19

March 22, 2021 PRINT | E-MAIL

USS Huron, PF-19  

 

A city in east-central South Dakota.

 

Builder:  American Ship Building Company, Cleveland, OH

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 (2 x quad mount); 9 x 20mm; 1 x Hedgehog, 8 x depth charge projectors; 2 x depth charge racks.

 

History:

The fifth warship named Huron, PF-19, originally PG-127, was launched under Maritime Commission contract by American Shipbuilding Co., Cleveland, Ohio on 3 July 1943.  She was sponsored by Mrs. J. S. Tschetter, wife of the mayor of Huron, South Dakota.  Huron was commissioned 7 September 1944 and LCDR W. W. Collins, USCG was given command.

Manned by a Coast Guard crew, Huron conducted shakedown training off Bermuda during October and November. Returning to Norfolk, the frigate sailed with a convoy bound from Norfolk to North Africa 1 December 1944.  While bringing together merchant ships which had become separated during the night, Huron was rammed by SS James Fenimore Cooper shortly after midnight 8 December.  Though the engine room flooded rapidly, the frigate's damage control work was timely and skillful and kept her afloat.  After temporary repairs, Huron was towed through rough weather by Choctaw, arriving at Bermuda 15 December 1944.  From there she was taken to Charleston for conversion to a sonar-training ship.

Huron departed Charleston on 20 February 1945 and proceeded to Key West, Florida, for duty as the flagship of the Fleet Sonar School Squadron.  She arrived at Key West 22 February.  She spent the remainder of the war providing both technical and tactical antisubmarine training for officers and men.  Huron departed Key West for Norfolk 19 March 1946 and was decommissioned there 19 April 1946.  She was sold to United Dock Corporation 15 May 1947.

 

Sources:

The Coast Guard At War, Transports and Escorts, Vol. V, No. 1, p. 142.  

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. III, p. 405.