USS St. Augustine (PG-54)

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]

USS St. Augustine
History
United States of America
Name: USS St. Augustine
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 after collision with merchant tanker
General characteristics
Type: Gunboat
Displacement: 1,720 long tons (1,750 t) (full)
Length: 272 ft 2 in (82.96 m)
Beam: 36 ft (11 m)
Draft: 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Propulsion:
  • Turbo-electric
  • 2 × shafts
Speed: 14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement: 185
Armament: 2 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns

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
  1. Associated Press, "Barbara Hutton's Yacht Sinks After Collision", The Spokesman-Review, Spokane, Washington, Saturday 8 January 1944, Volume 61, Number 239, page 5.
  2. Gunboat Photo Archive: St. Augustine (PG 54), retrieved 2008-12-18
  3. St Augustine PG-54, retrieved 2008-12-18
  4. USS Saint Augustine (PG-54), 1941-1944, retrieved 2008-12-18

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