 USSSandusky (PF-54) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Sandusky |
| Namesake | City ofSandusky, Ohio[1] |
| Reclassified | PF-54, 15 April 1943 |
| Builder | Froemming Brothers, Inc.,Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Laid down | 8 July 1943 |
| Launched | 5 October 1943 |
| Sponsored by | Miss Mabel Apel |
| Commissioned | 18 April 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 12 July 1945 |
| Honors and awards | 2 ×battle stars,World War II |
| Fate | Transferred to theSoviet Navy, 12 July 1945[2] |
| Acquired | Returned by Soviet Navy, 15 October 1949 |
| Fate | Transferred to theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 26 February 1953 |
| Stricken | 1 December 1961 |
| Acquired | Returned by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 31 March 1970 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1970 |
 Soviet Union | |
| Name | EK-7[3] |
| Acquired | 12 July 1945[2] |
| Commissioned | 12 July 1945[4] |
| Fate | Returned to United States, 15 October 1949 |
 Japan | |
| Name | Nire |
| Acquired | 26 February 1953 |
| Renamed | YAC-19, 1969 |
| Reclassified | Auxiliary stock craft (YAC), 1969 |
| Fate | Returned to United States 31 March 1970 for disposal |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Tacoma-class frigate |
| Displacement | 1,264 long tons (1,284 t) |
| 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 |
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| Speed | 20knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Complement | 190 |
| Armament |
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USSSandusky (PF-54), aTacoma-classfrigate in commission from 1944 to 1945, was the secondUnited States Navy ship of the name and the first to be named forSandusky, Ohio.[1] She later served in theSoviet Navy asEK-7 and in theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force asJDSNire (PF-7),Nire (PF-287) and asYAC-19.
Sandusky, originally classified as a "patrolgunboat,"PG-162, was reclassified as a "patrol frigate,"PF-54 on 15 April 1943.Laid down on 8 July 1943, under aMaritime Commission contract byFroemming Brothers, Inc., inMilwaukee,Wisconsin, she waslaunched on 5 October 1943, sponsored by Miss Mabel Apel, andcommissioned on 18 April 1944 atNew Orleans, Louisiana, withLieutenant CommanderThomas R. Sargent III,USCG, in command.
Aftershakedown atBermuda and overhaul atPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania,Sandusky departed for thePacific Ocean on 18 August 1944, escorting aconvoy fromNew York City toFinschhafen andHollandia,New Guinea. After completing the long convoy voyage on 2 October 1944, she proceeded toMorotai, conductinganti-submarine patrols there for the rest of the month. From November 1944 through February 1945, she escorted convoys between Hollandia andLeyte in thePhilippine Islands in support of U.S. troops occupying thePhilippines. After escorting a convoy toLingayen Gulf atLuzon in the Philippines, she departed from Leyte on 8 March 1945 forSeattle,Washington.
Followingoverhaul,Machias proceeded toKodiak in theTerritory of Alaska. Earmarked for transfer to theSoviet Navy inProject Hula, a secret program for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy in anticipation of theSoviet Union joining thewar against Japan,Sandusky joined hersister shipsUSS Charlottesville (PF-25),USS Long Beach (PF-34),USS Belfast (PF-35),USS Glendale (PF-36),USS San Pedro (PF-37),USS Coronado (PF-38),USS Allentown (PF-52), andUSS Machias (PF-53) in getting underway from Kodiak on 13 June 1945 bound forCold Bay, Alaska, where they arrived on 14 June 1945 to enter Project Hula. Training ofSanduksy's new Soviet Navy crew soon began at Cold Bay.[5]
Sandusky wasdecommissioned on 12 July 1945 at Cold Bay and transferred to the Soviet Union underLend-Lease immediately[2] along with nine of her sister ships, the first group of patrol frigates transferred to the Soviet Navy. Commissioned into the Soviet Navy immediately,[4]Sandusky was designated as astorozhevoi korabl ("escort ship") and renamedEK-7[3] in Soviet service. On 15 July 1945,EK-7 departed Cold Bay in company with nine of her 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-8 (ex-Coronado),EK-9 (ex-Allentown), andEK-10 (ex-USS Ogden (PF-39)) – bound forPetropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Soviet Union.EK-7 served as a patrol vessel in theSoviet Far East.[6]
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,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-7 among them. Negotiations for the return of the ships were protracted, but on 15 October 1949 the Soviet Union finally returnedEK-7 to the U.S. Navy atYokosuka, Japan.[7]
Reverting to her original name,Sandusky lay idle in thePacific Reserve Fleet at Yokosuka until the United States loaned her toJapan on 26 February 1953 for service in theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force asJDSNire (PF-7) (にれ (PF-7), "elm").[8]Nire was redesignatedPF-287 on 1 September 1957.[8] The United States struck her from theNavy list on 1 December 1961 and transferred her outright to Japan on 28 August 1962. In 1969, she was reclassified as an "auxiliary stock craft" (YAC) and renamedYAC-19.[8] Japan returned her to the United States on 31 March 1970 for disposal.
The U.S. Navy awardedSandusky twobattle stars for herWorld War II service.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.
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