- USS Prudent (PG-96)
USS "Prudent" (PG–96), originally ordered as HMS "Privet" (CN–314), was an "Action"-class patrol
gunboat in theUnited States Navy ."Prudent" was laid down by the
Morton Engine and Dry Dock Company , Ltd., inMontreal, Quebec , on14 August 1942 ; launched on4 December 1942 , sponsored by Mrs. Vincent Godfrey; delivered to theU.S. Navy on14 August 1943 ; and commissioned on16 August 1943 , withLieutenant A. F. Pittman, USCG, in command.Following shakedown off
Bermuda , "Prudent" steamed to New York to begin a series of east coast-Cuba escort runs. Sailing with her firstconvoy on7 December 1943 , she completed her 11th run, at New York, on21 December 1944 . During January and into February 1945, she patrolled the sea lanes off theNew England coast, then on20 February , departed New York on her last escort assignment to Guantanamo Bay. Returning to New York on15 March , she resumed patrol duties, and for the remainder of the war inEurope plied the waters off the northeast coast.Ordered inactivated at the end of the war, "Prudent" sailed south on
11 June , toNorfolk, Virginia , thence toCharleston, South Carolina , where she was decommissioned on11 October 1945 . Struck from theNavy List on1 November 1945 , she was transferred to theMaritime Commission for disposal on22 September 1947 .In 1949 the ship was acquired by the
Italian Navy and renamed "Elbano". In 1951 she was converted to a hydrographic survey vessel and renamed a fourth time, "Staffetta". She continued to serve the Italian Navy under that name until she was discarded in 1970.References
External links
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p12/prudent.htm history.navy.mil: USS "Prudent"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/09096.htm navsource.org: USS "Prudent"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/patrol/pg96.htm hazegray.org: USS "Prudent"]
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