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Patrol Frigate Photo Archive

Tacoma (PF 3)
ex-PG 111



Call sign:
November - Xray - Whiskey - Charlie


Tacoma served the Navies of the United States, the Soviet Union and South Korea
Tacoma Class Patrol Frigate:
  • (MC Type S2-S2-AQ1) - Lead ship of Tacoma Class Patrol Frigates
  • Built by Kaiser Richmond Yard #4, Richmond, CA
  • Laid down under Maritime Commission Contract, (MC hull 1421) as Patrol Gunboat PG-111, 10 March 1943
  • Reclassified Patrol Frigate PF-3, 15 April 1943
  • Named Tacoma, 05 May 1943
  • Launched, 07 July 1943
  • Commissioned USS Tacoma (PF-3), 06 November 1943
  • Decommissioned at Cold Harbor, AK, 16 August 1945
  • Loaned to the Soviet Union and reclassified EK-11
  • Returned to U.S. custody at Yokosuka, Japan, 16 October 1949
  • Recommissioned, 01 December 1950
  • Decommissioned, early October 1951
  • Transferred to the Republic of Korea and renamed ROKS Taedong [대동강] (PF-63), 09 October 1951
  • Decommissioned and returned to U.S. custody, 28 February 1973
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 20 April 1973
  • Donated to the Republic of Korea Navy as a museum and training ship, 01 June 1973
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,430 tons (lt), 2,415 tons (fl)
    Length 303' 11"
    Beam 37' 6"
    Draft 13' 8"
    Speed 20.3 knots
    Complement 190
    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 depth charge projector (hedgehog)
    Propulsiontwo vertical triple expansion steam engines
    two 240psi 3-drum express boilers
    two shafts, 5,500ihp
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Tacoma (PF 3)
    Tacoma 236k Underway when first completed. The original photo is dated 29 October 1943
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 107264    		 Original photo: Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Replacement photo: Mike Green
    USS Tacoma (PF 3)
    Tacoma 217k Fitting out at Richmond, California, circa November 1943, around the time she was commissioned
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 92996    		 Mike Green
    Tacoma
    120800311    		 724k Tacoma (PF-3) underway on trials in San Francisco Bay, 11 December 1943.
    U.S. Navy photo from collection of Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum    		 Darryl Baker
    Tacoma 98k 11 December 1943
    Off San Francisco. She was at Mare Island for repairs from 16 June 1944 to 10 October 1944 and was in dry dock No. 2 from 23 - 26 June 1944
    U.S. Navy photos 8157-43, 8164-43 and 8166-43    		 Darryl L. Baker
    Tacoma 145k
    Tacoma 83k
    Tacoma 392k c. 1944
    Seattle, WA
    From the collection of James R. Dunlap, Jr., Water Tender 3rd Class (somewhere in the first row)    		 James R. Dunlap, III
    Tacoma 65k U.S. Coast Guard photo Mike Hanlon
    Tacoma 75k Postal cover: Postmarked 20 January 2006, Lincoln Station, Tacoma, WA Richard Miller, BMCS, USNR, Ret.
    Taedong (PF 63)
    Tacoma 330k 16 January 1952
    Han Estuary, South Korea
    Along side the repair ship USS Jason (ARH-1). The Jason was the flagship of Service Squadron Three which supplied mobile logistic support for United Nations’ naval units. The ships fantails visible are: (L-R) the Australian Bay-class frigate HMAS Murchison (F 442); the Colombian Tacoma-class frigate Almirante Padilla (FG 51), ex-USS
    Groton (PF 29)    ; the Tacoma-class frigate USS Gloucester (PF-22), and the South Korean Tacoma-class frigate Taedong
    U.S. Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Tacoma 124k c. 1963
    Korean Navy photo from the 1964/1965 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Adrian Francis Werner, USCG - USCGA Class of 19356 November 1943 - 1944
    02LT Avrid E. Norman, USCGR1944 - 16 August 1945
    Courtesy Joe Radigan and Wolfgang Hechler
    View the Tacoma (PF-3)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 28 June 2023