Origin and creation of the Patrol Frigate

The seventy-five Coast Guard-manned patrol frigates of World War II deserve a place in memory, if for no other reason, they were the US Navy's first line of combat vessels designated as frigates since the age of sail. Not forgotten by patrol frigate sailors, the frigates as a class won their share of battle stars and honors. From early 1944 to war's end, ships of the "forgotten fleet" performed a full range of vital assignments in every major water body on earth, be it weather patrol in the icy chill and storms of the North Atlantic, or escort duty from Norfolk across the Atlantic to Oran in the Mediterranean, or ASW (anti-submarine warfare), convoy duty and invasion screening from New Guinea to Leyte Gulf, or guard ship station off the Russian Komandorski Island in the Bering Sea assisting the 11th Air Force bombing missions over the Japanese Kurile Islands.

The American frigates were designed after the British River-class frigate, of which fifty-two had slipped down the ways by late 1942, and quickly called to the attention of the American navy, partly because of the similarity to the DEs in size speed and armament. Upon Admiral King's recommendation, following naval architects Gibbs and Cox redesign of the British frigate as an all-welded vessel subject to prefabrication and mass production, President Roosevelt ordered the Maritime Commision to award contracts to merchant shipyards in December 1942. Two Canadian built prototypes, ASHVILLE PF-1 and NATCHEZ PF-2 were awarded to the U.S. Navy in "reverse lend lease." Patrol frigate orders soon numbered 100, four later cancelled and twenty-one approved for construction at the new Walsh-Kaiser yard, Providence, Rhode Island, for transfer to the Royal Navy under Lend Lease.

On the drawing boards the new American frigates were initially classed as gunboats to be named for small cities in keeping with the 1933 ERIE-class gunboat. But since the American design so closely resembled the British version, designation was changed to frigate (PF) in mid=April 1943, the P standing for a patrol-type vessel, not to be confused with the destroyer escort (DE) where D designated a destroyer-type combat vessel. Beyond that, the size, speed and armament of the two were surprizingly similar, The frigates displaced 1430 tons, 303'11" in length, 37'6" in breadth, draft 13'8" and twin screws powered by triple expansion steam engines capable of cranking out an acceptable 20.3 knots at flank speed. Limited to a single rudder and deeper draft, the frigates were no match for the twin rudder DEs in nimble maneuvering, On the other hand, the deep draft and wide beam of the frigates provided a noteworthy seakindliness, and not the least, the high freeboard of the lengthy forecastle deck protected to a large degree against green water piling on board in heavy weather. Nearly comparable in armament to the DEs, The frigates mounted two 3-inch 50s forward and one aft, port and starboard midship twin 40m Bofors and nine 20mm Oerlikons. Anti-submarine armament included a hedgehog forward (a 24 spigot morter, MK 10, firing an eliptical pattern over the bow, range 250 yards) and depth charge racks and K-guns aft on the fantail. Compliment of each frigate numbered 190 officers and men.