USS Sausalito (PF-4)

South Korean frigate Imchin (PF-66), the former USS Sausalito
Career (United States)
Name:	USS Sausalito (PG-112)
Namesake:	Sausalito, California
Builder:	Kaiser Cargo, Inc., Richmond, California
Yard number:	47
Laid down:	7 April 1943
Reclassified:	PF-4, 15 April 1943
Launched:	20 July 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Richard Shaler
Commissioned:	4 March 1944
Decommissioned:	16 August 1945
Fate:	transferred to the Soviet Navy, 16 August 1945
Acquired:	returned from Soviet Navy, 1 November 1949
Recommissioned:	15 September 1950
Decommissioned:	9 June 1952
Honors and awards:	6 battle stars, Korean War
Fate:	transferred to the Republic of Korea Navy, 4 September 1952
Struck:	1 September 1972
Career (Soviet Union)
Name:	EK-13
Acquired:	16 August 1945
Fate:	Returned to United States, 1 November 1949
Career (South Korea)
Name:	ROKS Imchin (PF-66)
Acquired:	4 September 1952
Fate:	Scrapped, 1973
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:	• 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 Sausalito (PF-4), a Tacoma-class frigate, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Sausalito, California.

Sausalito (PF-4) was laid down on 7 April 1943 as PG-112 under a Maritime Commission contract by the Kaiser Cargo, Inc., shipyard in Richmond, California; reclassified PF-4 on 15 April 1943; launched on 20 July 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Richard Shaler; and commissioned on 4 March 1944, with Commander Edward A. Eve, USCG, in command.

Service history

World War II, 1944–1945

After shakedown, Sausalito arrived at Adak, Alaska, on 5 October 1944 for convoy escort duty in the Alaskan Sea Frontier. She performed these duties until departing on 5 June 1945 for overhaul at Seattle, Washington.

Soviet Navy, 1945–1949

On 16 August 1945, she was decommissioned at Cold Harbor, Alaska, and transferred to the Soviet Union under Lend Lease as EK-13. The ship was returned to United States custody by the Soviet Union on 1 November 1949, and was placed in reserve in Japan.

Korean War, 1950–1952

With the outbreak of the Korean War, additional escort vessels were needed; and on 15 September 1950, Sausalito was recommissioned at Yokosuka, Japan, with Lieutenant Commander Francis W. Deily in command. On 26 November, she departed Yokosuka for Hŭngnam, North Korea. There, until 24 December 1950, she performed harbor control duties which included escorting ships through the mineswept channel, passing instructions to ships entering the harbor, patrolling the entrance against hostile craft and drifting mines, and conducting shore bombardment when required.

Between February and May 1951, her assignments included escorting the battleship Missouri (BB-63), on her shore bombardment station, blockade patrols, and shore bombardment on the east coast of North Korea from Wonsan to Chongjin, and harbor control duty at Wonsan, broken by periods of upkeep at Sasebo and Yokosuka. During the period from June to August, she escorted underway replenishment groups off the Korean coast.

After drydocking and upkeep at Yokosuka, Sausalito sailed for the Philippines in October. In late November and early December, she conducted a patrol against unauthorized fishing vessels in the Sonsorol Islands in the Western Carolines, apprehending one vessel. After Christmas in Subic Bay, she made a good-will tour to Saigon, Bangkok, Singapore, and Penang. February found her back in Korean waters, where she resumed escort and patrol duties before returning to Yokosuka for the last time under the United States flag on 31 May.

Republic of Korea Navy, 1952–1973

On 9 June 1952, Sausalito was decommissioned, and on 4 September was transferred, on loan, to the Republic of Korea as Imchin (PF-66). She replaced the Korean ship Apnok, ex-USS Rockford (PF-48), which had been irreparably damaged in a collision on 21 May 1951. Imchin was scrapped in 1973.

Sausalito earned six battle stars for her Korean War service.

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