.jpg) USSPaducah (PG-18) gun ship | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Paducah |
| Namesake | City ofPaducah, Kentucky |
| Builder | Gas Engine and Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co.,Morris Heights, New York |
| Laid down | 22 September 1903 |
| Launched | 11 October 1904 |
| Commissioned | 2 September 1905 |
| Decommissioned | 2 March 1919 |
| In service | 2 May 1922 |
| Out of service | 7 September 1945 |
| Renamed | Geula |
| Stricken | 19 December 1946 |
| Identification | Hull symbol: PG-18 |
| Fate | Scrapped |
| General characteristics[1] | |
| Class & type | Dubuque-classgunboat |
| Displacement | 1,237 tons |
| Length | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Beam | 35 ft (11 m) |
| Draft | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
USSPaducah (PG-18) was aDubuque-classgunboat acquired by theUS Navy prior toWorld War I. Her task was to patrol, escort, and protect Navy ships.
Paducah (Gunboat No. 18/PG-18) was launched 11 October 1904, byGas Engine and Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co.,Morris Heights, New York; sponsored by Miss Anna May Yeiser; and commissioned 2 September 1905. She was reclassifiedAG–7 in 1919;IX–23, 24 April 1922; andPG–18, 4 November 1940.
Aftershakedown,Paducah joined theCaribbean Squadron early in 1906 to protect American lives and interests through patrols and port calls to Caribbean andCentral American andSouth American cities. She patrolledMexican waters in the aftermath of theVera Cruz incident through the summer of 1914, then returned to her Caribbean operations, performing surveys from time to time.
Paducah was ordered north to prepare atPortsmouth, New Hampshire, forEuropean service inWorld War I, for which she sailed fromNew York 29 September 1917. She reachedGibraltar 27 October, and based there as convoy escort toNorth Africa,Italy, theAzores, andMadeira. She attacked aU-boat 9 September 1918 after it had sunk one of herconvoy, and was credited with possibly damaging the submarine. LeavingGibraltar 11 December,Paducah reachedPortsmouth, New Hampshire, 7 January 1919 to decommission 2 March 1919.
She again recommissioned 16 August 1920 through 9 September 1921 for survey duty in the Caribbean.Paducah was commissioned a third time 2 May 1922 for duty training Naval Reservists in the9th Naval District. She arrivedDuluth, Minnesota, 20 June, replacing theUSSEssex which then became a receiving ship. These training missions included regular two-week cruises, and gunnery practice on Lake Michigan. In addition to regular duties, the ship was used for miscellaneous ceremonial purposes, assisted in the fight against a fire onIsle Royale, and assisted with rescue work when the Mississippi River flooded.[2]
Paducah was modified in the early 1930s to run on oil-fired boilers. The triple expansion engines were installed, with boilers fore and aft. Additional modifications included hammock berthing on a new boat deck, and a sheltered main deck between the quarterdeck and the pilot house.[2]
Paducah returned to theEast Coast of the United States in early 1941, and throughWorld War II, trainedNaval Armed Guard gunners inChesapeake Bay, thus giving vital service to the Merchant Marine's crucial World War II assignment.
Decommissioning 7 September 1945,Paducah transferred to theMaritime Commission 19 December 1946, and was sold the same day to Maria Angelo,Miami, Florida. After she was sold in Miami, the ship was obtained by the Zionist groupHaganah and renamedGeula, meaning "Redemption". A volunteer American crew sailed her to Bayonne, France, and from there to Bulgaria.Geula embarked 1,388 Jewish refugees and, led by formerSpanish Republican Navy commanderMiguel Buiza, the ship tried to run the Britishblockade and bring the refugees to Palestine.[3]
She was intercepted on 2 October 1947 and brought toHaifa, where she was left with other captured "illegal" immigrant ships. Because she was a former naval vessel the newly formedIsraeli Navy examined her in 1948 for possible service, but she was not in good shape and was not accepted for service. She was refurbished sufficiently to sail as an Israeli merchant ship and made one trip in late 1948 from Haifa to Naples, Italy. There she was tied up and eventually sold for scrap in 1951.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.