USS Uniontown (PF-65)

USS Uniontown (PF-65), a Tacoma-class frigate, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Uniontown, Pennsylvania.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Chattanooga.

USS Chattanooga (PF-65) is launched at the Leatham D. Smith Shipbuilding Company shipyard at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, on 7 August 1943, a year before she was renamed USS Uniontown just prior to commissioning.
History
United States
Name:
  • Chattanooga (1943–1944)
  • Uniontown (1944–1947)
Namesake:
Builder: Leatham D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Laid down: 21 April 1943
Launched: 7 August 1943
Commissioned: 6 October 1944
Decommissioned: 20 December 1945
Renamed: Uniontown, 16 August 1944
Reclassified: PF-65, 15 April 1943
Stricken: 8 January 1946
Fate: Sold to Argentina, July 1947
Argentina
Name: Sarandi
Acquired: July 1947
Decommissioned: 1968
Fate: Unknown
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:
  • 2 × 5,500 shp (4,101 kW) turbines
  • 3 boilers
  • 2 shafts
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement: 190
Armament:

Construction

The ship was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1489) as Chattanooga on 21 April 1943, at Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company. Launched on 7 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Cecilia Daniel, and brought to New Orleans, for completion on 4 April 1944. She was renamed Uniontown on 16 August 1944, to free the name Chattanooga for the Fargo-class light cruiser CL-118, and commissioned on 6 October 1944, with Commander Richard E. Morell, USCG, in command.

Service history

World War II

Following shakedown in the Caribbean and a brief visit to Charleston, South Carolina, Uniontown joined Task Force 61 at Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 27 December 1944 for duty as a convoy escort. Two days later, the Coast Guard-manned escort vessel got underway for the first of three round-trip voyages across the Atlantic, escorting convoys to Oran, Algeria, and back. Her first round trip lasted from 29 December 1944 to 11 February 1945; the second round trip commenced on 15 March and ended with the ship's return to New York on 9 April. On 28 April, Uniontown got underway for North Africa and her last wartime convoy escort run.

While en route to Algeria, Uniontown received word that German forces had surrendered at Rheims on 7 May, ending the long European war. Arriving at Oran on the 13th, Uniontown soon got underway for the United States and reached Philadelphia, on 8 June for conversion to a weather ship. On 3 July, outfitted for weather patrol duties, she set out for Newfoundland, and arrived at NS Argentia two days later.

On 13 July, Uniontown commenced operations at Weather Station No. 3 and remained on station until 2 August. The ship returned to Grønnedal, Greenland, from 3 to 20 August in between deployments on weather patrol. The frigate served on Weather Station No. 1 from 22 August to 11 September, and subsequently at Weather Station No. 3 from 2 to 20 October before she returned to the Boston Navy Yard. A month later, Uniontown headed for Hampton Roads and arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, on 30 November 1945.

Postwar
For other ships with the same name, see ARA Sarandi.

On 20 December 1945, the warship was decommissioned at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Virginia, and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 8 January 1946.

After being turned over to the State Department Liquidation Commission, she was then sold to the Argentine government in July 1947, in whose service she was renamed ARA Sarandi (P-33). She served until 1968. Fate unknown.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.


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