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Gunboat Photo Archive

PG-56 / AGC-369 Williamsburg


Laid down at Bath Iron Works Corp. as steel-hulled yacht Aras II, 19 March 1930; Launched, 8 December 1930; Acquired by the Navy, 24 April 1941 and renamed Williamsburg; Classified as a Patrol Gunboat PG-56, 23 June 1941 and converted for Naval service at Brewer Drydock and Repair Co., Brooklyn, NY; Commissioned USS Williamsburg (PG-56), 7 October 1941 at New York Navy Yard; Redesignated as a General Communications Vessel (Amphibious Force Flagship) AGC-369, 10 November 1945 and designated as the Presidential Yacht; Decommissioned, 30 June 1953 at the Washington Navy Yard; Struck from the Naval Register, 1 April 1962; Transferred to the National Science Foundation for oceanographic service, renamed Anton Bruun; Damaged beyond economical repair 1968 in drydock sinking; Offered for sale by the Maritime Administration and acquired by a commercial concern for use as a combination hotel-restaurant-museum; Ownership transferred to the Presidential Yacht Trust, (date unknown); Transferred to the USS Williamsburg Corp., 15 April 1993. Fate unknown.

Specifications: Displacement 1,805 (fl) t; Length 243' 9"; Beam 36'; Draft 14'; Speed 13.5 kts; Complement 81; Armament two 3" gun mounts, six .50 cal. machine guns, two .30 cal. Lewis machine guns, two dct, one "Y" gun, 16 rifles, and 10 pistols; Propulsion two 1,100hp diesel engines.
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Size Image Description Source
Williamsburg 86k This photo could be Williamsburg as the yacht Aras prior to Naval service -
Williamsburg 112k Seen here as Presidential Yacht Williamsburg (AGC 369) on the Potomac sometime after WW II
US Navy photo
Haze Gray & Underway web site
Williamsburg 144k President Truman boarding Williamsburg (AGC-369) in 1946
US Navy photo
Haze Gray & Underway web site
Anton Bruun 56k Seen here as the Anton Bruun. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
Anton Bruun 70k Seen here as the Anton Bruun. Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy
Williamsburg 122k June 1998, La Spezia Italy Haze Gray & Underway web site
Williamsburg 118k 1998 ex-Williamsburg had deteriorated to this sad state, gutted and awaiting scrapping, at La Spezia, Italy Haze Gray & Underway web site

View the Williamsburg (PG-56)
DANFS history entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway web site, the main archive for the DANFS Online Project
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association

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