USS Allentown, PF-52
Builder: Froemming Brothers, Inc., Milwaukee, WI
Length: 303' 11"
Beam: 37' 6"
Draft: 12' 8" fl
Displacement: 2,230 tons
Propulsion: 2-shaft VTE, 3 boilers
Range: 9,500 nm at 12 knots
Top speed: 20 knots
Complement: 190
Armament: 3 x 3"/50; 4 x 40mm (2x2); 9 x 20mm; 1 x Hedgehog, 8 x depth charge projectors; 2 x depth charge racks. For those frigates fitted out for weather patrol duty, the after 3-inch gun was removed and a weather balloon hanger was added aft.
History:
Allentown (PF-52) was launched 3 July 1943 by Froemming Brothers, Inc., Milwaukee, WI and was sponsored by Miss Joyce E. Beary. She was commissioned 24 March 1944 under the command CDR G. W. Collins, USCG.
She then reported to the Operational Training Command, Atlantic Fleet. Following training, the Coast Guard-manned Allentown, joined Escort Division 33 and steamed to the Pacific, arriving at Finschhafen, New Guinea, 29 September. Until March 1945 she patrolled and escorted convoys in New Guinea waters except for participation in the Morotai landing (30-31 October 1944) and the reinforcement of Leyte (15-29 November 1944). On 9 March 1945 she joined a Ulithi bound convoy as an escort, after which she steamed to Puget Sound Navy Yard for an overhaul, arriving 7 April.
Allentown departed Puget Sound on 7 June 1945 for Cold Bay, AK. She was decommissioned there 12 July 1945 and transferred to the Soviet Union the following day. She was commissioned into the Soviet Navy as EK-9. The Soviets returned her to American custody at Yokosuka, Japan, 15 October 1949. Allentown remained out of commission until she was loaned to Japan 2 April 1953.
Allentown received two battle stars for her service during World War II.
“USS ALLENTOWN (PF-52) NEAR THE NORFOLK NAVY YARD ON 9 AUGUST 1944, IN MEASURE 32/16D."; Photo No. 19-N-72013; photographer unknown. National Archives photo. Note her HF/DF antenna abaft her mainmast.
Sources:
The Coast Guard At War, Transports and Escorts, Vol. V, No. 1.
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922-1946. London: Conway Maritime Press, 1992, pp. 148-149.
Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol. 1, p. 33.
Richard A. Russell. Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan. [The U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series, No. 4.] Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center/U.S. Government Printing Office, 1997, pp. 39-40.