USS Gloucester (PF-22)

USS "Gloucester" (PF-22), a "Tacoma"-class frigate, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Gloucester, Massachusetts.

The second "Gloucester" (PF-22), originally classified PG-130, was launched on 12 July 1943 at the Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company in Superior, Wisconsin, under a Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. Emily K. Ross; acquired and simultaneously commissioned on 10 December 1943.

Following shakedown, "Gloucester" was employed in training frigate crews at Galveston, Texas. On 16 June 1944 she was attached to Escort Division 38, and was later ordered to the Alaskan Sea Frontier for transfer to Russia under lend-lease legislation. Leased to Russia on 4 September 1945 and renamed EK-26, she served as a patrol vessel in the Far East. "Gloucester" was returned to the United States at Yokosuka, Japan, on 31 October 1949 and recommissioned on 11 October 1950.

She sailed from Yokosuka on 27 November 1950 for Korea and conducted patrol and anti-submarine warfare duties at Wonsan, Pusan, Inchon, and Kusan until returning to Yokosuka 21 January 1951. "Gloucester" subsequently engaged in patrol and escort duties at Wonsan and saw combat on 18 June 1951, when with other ships, she blasted gun emplacements at Wonsan. She continued her duties in Korean waters through the fall of 1951. On 11 November 1951 while cruising off Kojo in a duel with shore batteries, "Gloucester" took a direct hit that killed 1 man and wounded 11. Following repairs at Japan, she returned to Korean waters to continue effective support of U.N. forces ashore. Arriving at Yokosuka on 5 September 1952, she decommissioned there on 15 September 1952.

"Gloucester" was loaned to Japan on 1 October 1953, struck from the Navy List on 1 December 1961, and transferred to Japan in March 1962 where she served as "Tsuge" (PF-292).

References

*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g6/gloucester-ii.htm

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/08022.htm navsource.org: USS "Gloucester"]