JDSSugi, ex-USSCoronado (PF-38), inJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force service,c. 1956.
History
United States
Name	Coronado
Namesake	City ofCoronado, California
Reclassified	PF-38, 15 April 1943
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation,Wilmington,California
Laid down	6 May 1943
Launched	17 June 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. J. R. Crutchfield
Commissioned	17 November 1943
Decommissioned	12 July 1945
Honors & awards	4battle stars,World War II
Fate	Transferred toSoviet Navy, 12 July 1945[1]
Acquired	Returned by Soviet Navy, 16 October 1949
Stricken	14 January 1953
Fate	Transferred toJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 14 January 1953
Acquired	Returned by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 9 July 1971
Fate	Allocated toJapan for use astarget ship 1971
History
Soviet Union
Name	EK-8[2]
Acquired	12 July 1945[1]
Commissioned	12 July 1945[3]
Fate	Returned to United States, 16 October 1949
History
Japan
Name	JDSSugi (PF-285)
Acquired	14 January 1953
Commissioned	1953
Decommissioned	31 March 1969
Fate	Returned to United States, 9 July 1971 Allocated to Japan for use astarget ship 1971 Sunk as target 10 August 1971
General characteristics
Class & type	Tacoma-class frigate
Displacement	1,430 long tons (1,453 t) light 2,415 long tons (2,454 t) full
Length	303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam	37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft	13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion	2 × 5,500 shp (4,100 kW) turbines 3 boilers 2 shafts
Speed	20knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	190
Armament	3 ×3"/50 caliber guns (3×1) 3 ×3"/50 dual purpose guns (3x1) 4 x40 mm guns (2×2) 9 ×20 mm guns (9×1) 1 ×Hedgehoganti-submarine mortar 8 ×Y-gun depth charge projectors 2 × Depth charge tracks

USSCoronado (PG-146/PF-38), aTacoma-classfrigate, was the first ship of theUnited States Navy named forCoronado, California, a city adjacent toNaval Air Station North Island in San Diego. AfterWorld War II service in the U.S. Navy, she served in theSoviet Navy asEK-8 and later in theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force asSugi (PF-5) andSugi (PF-285).

Originally classified as a patrolgunboat,PG-146,Coronado was reclassified as apatrol frigate on 15 April 1943. She waslaid down by theConsolidated Steel Corporation ofWilmington, California, under aMaritime Commission contract (MC Type T. S2-S2-AQ1) on 6 May 1943. She waslaunched on 17 June 1943, sponsored by Mrs. J. R. Crutchfield, andcommissioned on 17 November 1943.^[4]

Coronado sailed from San Diego, California, on 8 February 1944, forconvoy escort duty toNouméa,New Caledonia, andCairns,Australia, en route toNew Guinea, arriving there on 25 March. After escorting troop and cargo transports toManus to support the landings there, she returned to the New Guinea area for the operations in the western part of that island, taking part in the landings onBiak from 28 May to 17 June, atCape Sansapor from 15 to 18 August, and onMorotai on 15 September.

Coronado sailed fromHumboldt Bay on 10 October 1944, to join in theLeyte operation, and served on escort and patrol duty betweenLeyte and New Guinea until 15 December 1944. She arrived atBoston,Massachusetts, on 24 January 1945 for anoverhaul of her main engines and boilers and various modifications, followed by refresher training inCasco Bay,Maine. On 28 March 1945, Escort Division 25, consisting ofCoronado and hersister shipsUSS Long Beach (PF-34) (theflagship),USS Belfast (PF-35),USS Glendale (PF-36),USS San Pedro (PF-37), andUSS Ogden (PF-39), departed Casco Bay bound forSeattle,Washington, via thePanama Canal, arriving at Seattle on 26 April 1945. She was moored at theLake Union Lumber Company Pier there from 30 April to 16 May 1945, undergoing voyage repairs and further alterations byPacific Electric contractors. In late May and early June 1945, she underwent tests and loaded ammunition.^[5]

The six patrol frigates of Escort Division 25 got underway forKodiak in theTerritory of Alaska on 7 June 1945.Ogden had to return to Seattle for repairs, butCoronado and the other four frigates arrived atWomens Bay, Kodiak, on 11 June 1945. On 13 June 1945, 43 of her men transferred ashore for reassignment, and later that dayCoronado,Long Beach,Belfast,Glendale,San Pedro, and their sister shipsUSS Charlottesville (PF-25),USS Allentown (PF-52),USS Machias (PF-53), andUSS Sandusky (PF-54) got underway from Kodiak forCold Bay, Alaska, where they arrived on 14 June 1945 to participate inProject Hula, a secret program for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to theSoviet Navy in anticipation of theSoviet Union joining the war against Japan.^[6]

On 16 June 1945,Coronado's ship's doctor and two of her deck officers transferred ashore for reassignment and, after she passed a material inspection on 17 June, two Soviet Navy officers and 48 Soviet sailors reported aboard for training on 18 June 1945. On 25 June, she received four more Soviet officers – one of them designated to serve as her commanding officer after her transfer to the Soviet Navy – and 45 more Soviet sailors for training, and by 1 July 1945, her entire Soviet crew of 12 officers and 178 enlisted men was aboard. Most of her American crew transferred off the ship at the same time, leaving her with a nucleus American crew of four officers and 44 enlisted men todecommission her.^[7]

Training ofCoronado's new Soviet Navy crew began on 26 June 1945, and she put to sea with them aboard for the first time on 28 June. Soviet crewmen conducted gunnery practice that day, and the Americans aboard demonstrated fueling, towing at sea, and use of hersonar equipment on 29 June 1945. On 30 June, the Soviet crew took complete control of the operation of the ship. Long days of training continued every day until completed on 8 July 1945. Three days of fueling and provisioningCoronado followed in preparation for her formal transfer to the Soviet Navy.^[7]

Coronado was decommissioned 12 July 1945, at Cold Bay,^[1] and transferred to the Soviet Union underLend-Lease immediately^[1] along with nine of her sister ships, the first group of 10 patrol frigates transferred to the Soviet Navy. Commissioned into the Soviet Navy immediately,^[3] she was designated as astorozhevoi korabl ("escort ship") and renamedEK-8^[2] in Soviet service. On 15 July 1945,EK-8 departed Cold Bay in company with her nine sister ships –EK-1 (ex-Charlottesville),EK-2 (ex-Long Beach),EK-3 (ex-Belfast),EK-4 (ex-Machias),EK-5 (ex-San Pedro),EK-6 (ex-Glendale),EK-7 (ex-Sandusky),EK-9 (ex-Allentown), andEK-10 (ex-Ogden) – bound forPetropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Soviet Union.^[8]EK-8 served as apatrol vessel in theSoviet 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,United States Secretary of the NavyJames V. Forrestal informed theUnited States Department of State that theUnited 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-8 among them. Negotiations for the return of the ships was protracted,^[9] but the Soviet Union finally returnedEK-8 to the United States atYokosuka, Japan, on 16 October 1949.

Returning to her original name,Coronado was placed in reserve at Yokosuka until 14 January 1953, when she became one of the first ships theUnited States loaned to Japan under theMutual Defense Assistance Program to serve in the JapaneseSafety Security Force asSugi (PF-5) (すぎ (PF-5); "cedar").^[10] She simultaneously was assigned to the 2nd Fleet, which was created that day, along with hersister shipMatsu (ex-USS Charlottesville (PF-25), similarly lent to Japan.Sugi andMatsu were assigned to theYokosuka District Force. On 1 April 1953, the 2nd Fleet became part of the newly created 1st Fleet Group. The 2nd Fleet later was renamed the 2nd Escort Corps.

In 1954, the Safety Security Force became theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). On 10 May 1957, the 2nd Escort Corps was abolished and its ships became part of the new 1st Training Corps, under whichSugi participated in the 1st Training Corps's first two oceanic training voyages.Sugi was redesignatedPF-285 on 1 September 1957^[10] and was transferred to theKure District Force on 10 December 1964.

The JMSDF decommissionedSugi on 31 March 1969 and returned her to U.S. custody on 9 July 1971. The United States subsequently allocated her to Japan for use as atarget ship, and a JMSDF escort ship sank her as a target in the Pacific Ocean south ofNojimazaki on 10 August 1971.

The U.S. Navy awardedCoronado fourbattle stars for her World War II service, for theBismarck Archipelago operation, theHollandia operation, theWestern New Guinea operation, and theLeyte Gulf operation.

•  This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.

• hazegray.org: USSCoronado PF-38
• "The Naval Database: JMSDF Kusu class patrol frigate (PF285) Sugi" (in Japanese). Retrieved22 September 2014.

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