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Patrol Frigate Photo Archive

USS Asheville (PF 1)



Call sign:
Nan - Queen - Charlie - Nan

ex-USS Asheville (PG 101)
ex-HMS Adur (K 269)


Asheville served the Navies of the United States and Argentina.
Asheville Class Patrol Frigate:

  • The second Asheville was laid down 10 March 1942 as HMS Adur (K 269) by Canadian Vickers Ltd., Montreal, Canada
  • Launched, 22 August 1942
  • Transferred to the United States prior to completion
  • Commissioned USS Asheville (PG-101), 1 December 1942
  • Reclassified as a Patrol Frigate, PF-1, 15 April 1943
  • Decommissioned, 14 January 1946 at Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA
  • Struck from the Navy list 25 February 1946
  • Sold 15 June 1946 to the United Boat Service Corp. of New York and resold to Argentina
  • Renamed ARA Hércules (P 31)
  • Transferred in 1961 to the Argentine Coast Guard and renamed ARA Juan B. Azopardo (GC 11)
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 2,360 t.
  • Length 301' 6"
  • Beam 36' 6"
  • Draft 13' 8"
  • Speed 20.3 kts.
  • Complement 194
  • Armament: Three 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts, two twin 40mm gun mounts, nine 20mm gun mounts, two depth charge tracks, eight depth charge projectors, and one hedgehog depth charge projector
    Armament in Argentine Navy was two 4.1" mounts, eight 40mm mounts, one Hedgehog and six depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 225psi 3-drum express boilers, two 5,500shp Canadian Vickers verticle triple expansion steam engines, two shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Asheville (PG 101)
    Asheville 102k
    USS Asheville (PF 1)
    Asheville 577k 22 August 1943
    With U.S. weapons and a British type 271 radar installed
    Photo from U.S. Small Combatants: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman    		 Robert Hurst
    Asheville 86k Original photo: 3 November 1943
    Replacement photo: 3 November 1943
    Photo by E. B. Denton, HMS Grandby (J 264), a Bangor class Minesweeping Sloop, is in the background
    National Archives photo 80-G-450238    		 Replacement photo: Mike Green
    Asheville 123k c. February 1944
    National Archives photo from Allied Escort Ships of World War II by Peter Elliott    		 Krlicbegovic Edib
    Bosnia & Hercegovina
    ARA Hércules (P 31)
    Asheville 212k c. 1947
    New York
    Prior to leaving for Argentina    		 Robert Hurst
    Asheville 112k
    Asheville 35k
    Asheville 94k
    Asheville 124k
    Asheville 46k c. 1958
    Hércules rearmed with two 4.1 gun mounts
    Argentine Navy photo from the 1958/1959 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    Asheville 117k c. 1960
    Argentine Navy photo from the 1960/1961 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    ARA Juan B. Azopardo (GC-11)
    Asheville 37k Juan Bautista Azopardo (born in Sengli, Malta, February 20, 1772 - died in Buenos Aires, October 23, 1847) was a Maltese military man and privateer who fought in the service of Holland, Spain and Argentina Francisco Javier Santos Vazquez
    Asheville 37k c. 1969
    Argentine Navy photo from the 1969-1970 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers - USS Asheville (PF 1)
    01LCDR Robert Power Walker, USN1 December 1942 - December 1943
    02LCDR Russell J. Garnaus, USNRDecember 1943 - 2 March 1945
    03LCDR Kipling Wycliffe Wise, USNR2 March 1945 - 17 November 1945
    04LT Charles R. Young, USNR17 NOvember 1945 - 8 January 1946
    Commanding Officers - ARA Hércules (P 31)
    01Capitán de Navio (Ship-of-the-Line Captain - CAPT) Edgardo Izquierdo Brown, ARA1948
    02Capitán de Fragata (Frigate Captain - CDR) Elias T. Sauz, ARA1949
    03Capitán de Fragata Ángel Fernández Gamio, ARA1950
    04Capitán de Fragata Manuel Martínez, ARA1950
    05Capitán de Fragata Helvio Gouzden, ARA1951
    06Capitán de Fragata Carlos A. Viñuales, ARAJanuary 1952 - May 1952
    07Capitán de Fragata José A. Cordeu, ARAMay 1952 - June 1952
    08Capitán de Fragata Horacio P. Casal, ARAJune 1952 - December 1952
    09Capitán de Fragata Luis J. Sosa, ARA1953
    10Capitán de Fragata Mario Lanzarini, ARA1954
    11Capitán de Fragata Francisco Manrique, ARA1955 - 16 June 1955
    12Capitán de Fragata Mario D. Pensotti, ARA16 June 1955 - October 1955
    13Capitán de Fragata Recaredo Vázquez, ARANovember 1955 - 1956
    14Capitán de Fragata Jorge Castiñeiras Falcón, ARA1957
    15Capitán de Fragata Eduardo Lcckhart, ARAJanuary 1958 - May 1958
    16Capitán de Fragata Efraín Ledesma, ARA1958 - 1959
    17Capitán de Fragata Ciro A. Scotti, ARA1960
    18Capitán de Fragata Francisco Peralta, ARA1961
    Courtesy of Robert Hurst and Joe Radigan
    View the Asheville (PF 1)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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