USS Davenport

File:USS Davenport (PF 69).jpg USS Davenport (PF 69), commissioning program photo.
History
United States
Name	Davenport
Namesake	City of Davenport, Iowa
Builder	Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Launched	8 December 1943
Commissioned	15 February 1945
Decommissioned	4 February 1946
Fate	Sold for scrap, 6 June 1946
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	215
Armament	3 × 3"/50 dual purpose guns (3x1) 4 x 40 mm guns (2×2) 9 × 20 mm guns (9×1) 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 8 × Y-gun depth charge projectors 2 × Depth charge tracks

USS Davenport (PF-69), a Tacoma-class frigate, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Davenport, Iowa.

Construction

Davenport (PF-69), originally classified as PG-177, was launched on 8 December 1943, by Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, under a Maritime Commission contract, sponsored by Mrs. E. Frick; transferred to the Navy on 1 June 1944, and placed in service the same day; placed out of service for additional work a week later; and commissioned in full on 15 February 1945, with a crew of 215 USCG officers and enlisted men.

Service history

Departing Norfolk, Virginia, on 17 April 1945, Davenport joined Pert (PG-95) and Action (PG-86) for an anti-submarine patrol off Casco Bay. She returned to New York on 24 April, and three days later got underway to escort a convoy to Mers El Kébir, Algeria, returning to Norfolk on 7 June. Two days later she entered the Navy Yard at Charleston, South Carolina, for conversion to a weather ship. This involved removing the number three 3-inch (76 mm) gun and installing in its place a hangar used to house meteorological equipment and to inflate and launch weather balloons. Davenport stood out from Charleston on 26 June 1945, and on 1 July took station off NS Argentia, Newfoundland to report meteorological data. She remained on this duty until 21 October aside from the period 6 August to 21 during which she towed SC-705 to Reykjavík, Iceland. Arriving at Boston Navy Yard 25 October, Davenport remained there until decommissioned on 4 February 1946. She was sold 6 June 1946.

References

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

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Davenport at NavSource Naval History
• hazegray.org: USS Davenport
• grobbel.org: USS Davenport (PF-69) – WW II Patrol Frigate