USS Evansville (PF-70)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Evansville.

Career (United States)
Name:	USS Evansville (PG-178)
Namesake:	Evansville, Indiana
Reclassified:	PF-70, 15 April 1943
Builder:	Leatham D. Smith Shipyard, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
Yard number:	313
Laid down:	28 August 1943
Launched:	27 November 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Don Davis
Commissioned:	4 December 1944
Decommissioned:	9 September 1945
Fate:	transferred to the Soviet Navy, 10 September 1945
Acquired:	returned from Soviet Navy, 1949
Recommissioned:	29 July 1950
Decommissioned:	28 February 1953
Fate:	transferred to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 31 October 1953
Acquired:	returned from Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 15 October 1976
Fate:	scrapped, 1977
Career (Soviet Union)
Name:	EK-28
Acquired:	10 September 1945
Fate:	Returned to United States, 1949
Career (Japan)
Name:	JDS Keyaki (PF-295)
Acquired:	31 October 1953
Renamed:	YAC-21, 1970
Decommissioned:	31 March 1976
Fate:	Returned to United States, 15 October 1976
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tacoma-class frigate
Displacement:	1,430 long tons (1,453 t) light 2,415 long tons (2,454 t) full
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:	• 3 × 3"/50 caliber guns (3×1) • 4 × 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 Evansville (PF-70), a Tacoma-class frigate, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Evansville, Indiana.

Evansville (PF-70) was launched on 27 November 1943 by Leatham D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, sponsored by Mrs. Don Davis, daughter of the Mayor of Evansville, Indiana; and commissioned on 4 December 1944, with Lieutenant Commander G. T. Applegate, USCG, in command.

Service history

World War II, 1944-1945

Evansville sailed down the Mississippi River and after calling at Mobile, Alabama, reached Charleston, South Carolina, on 31 December. Through the next six months, she had escort duty along the east coast and to Bermuda, patrolled off New York, and served briefly as a weather station ship. She departed New York City on 9 July 1945 bound for San Diego, California, Seattle, Washington, and Cold Bay, Alaska.

Soviet Navy, 1945–1949

She was decommissioned there on 9 September 1945, having been transferred to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease on 4 September 1945. Handed over to the Soviet Navy on 10 September 1945, she served as EK-28, until her return by Russia at Yokosuka, Japan in 1949.

Korean War, 1950–1953

Evansville was recommissioned by the US Navy on 29 July 1950, and served on patrol out of Yokosuka and in Korean waters until decommissioned on 28 February 1953.

Japanese Navy, 1953–1976

On 31 October 1953 she was transferred under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program to Japan, in whose Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force she served as Keyaki (PF-295). The ship was decommissioned on 31 March 1976, and returned to U.S. custody on 15 October 1976. Scrapped in 1977.

References

• 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 Evansville at NavSource Naval History
• hazegray.org: USS Evansville