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NavSource Online:
Motor Gunboat/Patrol Gunboat Photo Archive


Contributed by Mike Molinski. Right patch courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler

Canon (PG-90)
ex-PGM-90


Asheville Class Gunboat:

  • Laid down 28 June 1966 as PGM-90 at the Tacoma Boatbuilding Co., Tacoma, WA
  • Reclassified as a Patrol Gunboat, PG-90, 1 April 1967
  • Launched 10 June 1967
  • Commissioned USS Canon (PG-90), 28 July 1968
  • Decommissioned 31 January 1977 at Naval Station San Diego, CA
  • Struck from the Navy Register 9 October 1984
  • Placed on donation hold in July 2002 at Naval Shipyard Philadelphia, PA
  • As of December 2008 the Wisconsin Naval Ship Association, Inc. of Greendale, WI is in negotiations with the Navy to bring Canon to Sheboygan, WI as a veteran's museum
  • Removed from donation hold 30 August 2012 and redesignated for dismantling. Had been available for donation as a museum/memorial since July 2002 but no organization was able to meet the Navy's
    minimum requirements for ship donation.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 240 t. (lt), 285 t. (fl)
  • Length 164' 6"
  • Beam 24'
  • Draft 5' 2" (lt), 9' 6" (fl)
  • Speed 40 kts.
  • Complement 37
  • Armament: One 3"/50 gun mount, one 40mm gun mount and two twin .50 cal. machine guns
  • Propulsion: CODOG (Combination Diesel or Gas Turbine) two Cummins VT12-875 diesel engines, GE model 7 LM 1500 gas turbine engine, two controllable pitch propellers, 13,300shp. The CODOG
    system allows for diesel propulsion up to about 12-14 knots and marine gas turbine propulsion for speeds in excess of 35 knots.

    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image
    Size Image Description Source
    USS Canon (PG 90)
    Canon 33k Patrol Gunboat Association
    Terry W. McManuels, ETCM(SW), Ret.
    Canon 136k
    Canon 81k Underway off Puget Sound, WA
    U.S. Navy photo from the November 1971 edition of All Hands magazine
    Joe Radigan
    Canon 91k Canon with Tacoma (PG 92) astern
    U.S. Navy photo from the November 1972 edition of All Hands magazine
    Canon
    Canon 62k In front of the Administration building at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on "Donation Hold" Peter P. Papadakos
    Canon 51k
    Canon 55k
    Canon 40k .50 cal. machine gun mounting
    Canon 126k 14 September 2014
    Canon at the Navy Intermediate Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia, PA awaiting disposal. Charles F. Adams (DDG 2) is in the background
    John Chiquoine
    Photos added 21 August 2020
    Canon 162k 14 September 2014
    Canon at the Navy Intermediate Ship Maintenance Facility, Philadelphia, PA awaiting disposal
    Canon 185k

    Commanding Officers
    01LT Donald Ayre, USN26 July 1968 - 15 December 1969
    02LT David Brooks Robinson, USN - USNA Class of 1963
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1970), Defense Distinguished Service Medal, two Navy Distinguished Service Medals (1993/1996), five Legions of Merit, Bronze Star with Combat "V", Meritorious Service Medal and the Purple Heart - Retired as Vice Admiral
    15 December 1969 - 11 March 1972
    03LT Stephen George Kmetz, USN11 March 1972 - 26 February 1973
    04LT Randall Webster Hardy, USN - USNA Class of 196626 February 1973 - 1 May 1974
    05LT Robert Russell Williams, III, USN1 May 1974 - 21 July 1976
    06LT Richard Alan Merrow, USN21 July 1976 - 1976
    07LT Richard Allen Johnson, USN1976 - 31 January 1977
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan

    There is no DANFS history available for Canon (PG-90)
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Motor Gunboat (PGM) Photo Index

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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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