USS St. Augustine
USS St. Augustine | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS St. Augustine |
Namesake | St. Augustine, Florida |
Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, VA |
Cost | $1,250,000[1] |
Acquired | 5 December 1940 |
Commissioned | 16 January 1941 |
Fate | Sunk in collision 6 January 1944 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Gunboat |
Displacement | 1,720 long tons (1,748 t) (full) |
Length | 272 ft 2 in (82.96 m) |
Beam | 36 ft (11 m) |
Draft | 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h) |
Complement | 185 |
Armament | 2 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns |
USS St. Augustine (PG-54) was built in 1929 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. in Newport News, Virginia. She was originally a steel-hulled yacht named Viking and later named Noparo.[2][3] She was purchased by the US Navy on 5 December 1940 and was sent to Bethlehem Steel Corp. in Boston, Massachusetts where she was converted into a patrol gunboat. She was named St. Augustine on 9 January 1941 and commissioned as USS St. Augustine on 16 January 1941.[2][3]
St. Augustine was assigned to the 1st Naval District and operated out of Boston as a patrol ship until 1942.[3][4] She was transferred to the Eastern Sea Frontier where she escorted convoys between New York City and various Caribbean ports.[3][4] On the night of 6 January 1944, while leading a convoy from New York to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, St. Augustine was accidentally rammed by merchant tanker Camas Meadows off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey.[2][4] St. Augustine foundered within five minutes, and 115 of the 145 crewmembers on board were killed.[3]
References
- ^ Associated Press, "Barbara Hutton's Yacht Sinks After Collision", The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, Saturday 8 January 1944, Volume 61, Number 239, page 5.
- ^ a b c d e St Augustine PG-54, retrieved 2008-12-18
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- 1 Jan: Nagoya Maru
- 2 Jan: Albert Gallatin
- 3 Jan: USS Turner
- 6 Jan: USS St. Augustine
- 8 Jan: U-426, U-757
- 9 Jan: U-81
- 10 Jan: Daniel Webster
- 11 Jan: I-11, Kuma
- 13 Jan: U-231
- 14 Jan: Ha-50, Sazanami
- 16 Jan: I-181, USS Macaw, U-544
- 17 Jan: Ha-51
- 18 Jan: Yoshida Maru
- 19 Jan: U-641
- 20 Jan: U-263
- 22 Jan: USS Portent, Ro-37
- 23 Jan: HMS Janus
- 24 Jan: Magane Maru, St David
- 25 Jan: Suzukaze
- 26 Jan LST-411, LST-422
- 28 Jan: Ha-49, Sperrbrecher 137, U-271, U-571
- 29 Jan: Samuel Huntington, HMS Spartan, U-364
- 30 Jan: Cha-14, Cha-19, Cha-28, HMS Hardy, Tama Maru No. 3, U-314
- 31 Jan: U-592, Yasukuni Maru
- Unknown date: USS Scorpion, U-305, U-377
- 1 Jan: USS Jack
- 16 Jan: USS Flier
- 30 Jan: I-6