View source for USS Gloucester (PF-22)

{{short description|Tacoma-class patrol frigate}}
{{other ships|USS Gloucester}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= Gloucester (PF 22).jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Gloucester'' (PF-22)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1953}}
|Ship name=''Gloucester'' (PG-130)
|Ship namesake=City of [[Gloucester, Massachusetts|Gloucester]], Massachusetts
|Ship builder= [[Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company]], [[Superior, Wisconsin|Superior]], [[Wisconsin]]
|Ship yard number=19
|Ship laid down=4 March 1943
|Ship reclassified=PF-34, 15 April 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship launched= 12 July 1943
|Ship sponsor= Mrs. Emily K. Ross
|Ship commissioned= 10 December 1943
|Ship decommissioned= 3 September 1945
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Soviet Navy]], 4 September 1945
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship acquired=Returned by Soviet Navy, 31 October 1949
|Ship recommissioned= 11 October 1950
|Ship decommissioned= 15 September 1952
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force]], 1 October 1953
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship struck= 1 December 1961
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship acquired=Returned by Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 31 March 1969
|Ship fate=Final disposition unknown
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Soviet Union
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval-1935}}
|Ship name= ''EK-26''
|Ship acquired= 4 September 1945
|Ship commissioned= 4 September 1945
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship struck=
|Ship fate=Returned to United States, 31 October 1949
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= title
|Ship country=Japan
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Japan|naval}}
|Ship name=''Tsuge''
|Ship namesake= 
|Ship acquired= 1 October 1953
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned= 31 March 1968
|Ship struck=
|Ship renamed= 
|Ship reclassified= 
|Ship homeport=
|Ship fate= Returned to United States, 31 March 1969
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class= {{sclass|Tacoma|frigate|1}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1430|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|2415|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|303|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|13|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=*2 × {{convert|5500|shp|0|abbr=on}} turbines
*3 boilers
*2 shafts
|Ship speed= {{convert|20|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=190
|Ship armament=*3 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|3"/50 dual purpose]] guns (3x1)
*4 x [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40&nbsp;mm gun]]s (2×2)
*9 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20&nbsp;mm gun]]s (9×1)
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] [[anti-submarine mortar]]
*8 × Y-gun [[depth charge]] projectors
*2 × Depth charge tracks
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Gloucester'' (PF-22)''', a {{sclass|Tacoma|frigate}} in commission from 1943 to 1945, was the second ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Gloucester, Massachusetts]]. She later served in the [[Soviet Navy]] as '''''EK-26''''' and in the [[Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force]] as '''JDS ''Tsuge'' (PF-12)''' and '''JDS ''Tsuge'' (PF-292)'''.

==Construction and commissioning==
''Gloucester'', originally classified '''PG-130''', was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 12 July 1943, at the [[Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company]] in [[Superior, Wisconsin|Superior]], Wisconsin, under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract, sponsored by Mrs. Emily K. Ross. The US Navy acquired and simultaneously commissioned the ship on 10 December 1943.

==Service history==

===U.S. Navy, World War II, 1943-1945===
Following [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]], ''Gloucester'' was employed in training frigate crews at [[Galveston, Texas]].  On 16 June 1944 she was attached to [[Escort Division 38]]. Earmarked in 1945 for transfer to the [[Soviet Navy]] in [[Project Hula]], a secret program for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy in anticipation of the [[Soviet Union]] joining the [[Pacific War|war against Japan]], ''Gloucester'' proceeded to [[Cold Bay, Alaska|Cold Bay]] in the [[Territory of Alaska]] in the late summer of 1945.<ref>Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, p. 35.</ref>

===Soviet Navy, 1945–1949===

Following the completion of training for her new Soviet crew, ''Gloucester'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 4 September 1945 at Cold Bay and transferred to the Soviet Union under [[Lend-Lease]] immediately along with her [[sister ship]]s {{USS|Newport|PF-27}}, {{USS|Bath|PF-55}}, and {{USS|Evansville|PF-70}}, the last of 28 patrol frigates transferred to the Soviet Navy in Project Hula. Commissioned into the Soviet Navy immediately, ''Gloucester'' was designated as a ''storozhevoi korabl'' ("escort ship") and renamed '''''EK-26''''' in Soviet service.<ref>Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, pp. 35, 39.</ref>

On 5 September 1945, all ship transfers to the Soviet Union were ordered stopped, although training for ships already transferred was allowed to continue.  Accordingly, ''EK-26'' remained at Cold Bay along with ''EK-28'' (ex-''Newport''), ''EK-29'' (ex-''Bath''), and ''EK-30'' (ex-''Evanvsille'') for additional shakedown and training until 17 September 1945, when all four ships departed in company bound for [[Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky]] in the Soviet Union, the last four of the 149 Project Hula ships to do so. Arriving too late to see [[World War II]] combat with the Soviet Navy, ''EK-26'' served as a patrol vessel in the [[Soviet Far East]].<ref>Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, pp. 34, 35, 39.</ref>

In February 1946, the United States began negotiations for the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Union for use during World War II. On 8 May 1947, [[United States Secretary of the Navy]] [[James V. Forrestal]] informed the [[United States Department of State]] that the [[United States Department of the Navy]] wanted 480 of the 585 combatant ships it had transferred to the Soviet Union for World War II use returned, ''EK-26'' among them. Negotiations for the return of the ships were protracted, but on 31 October 1949 the Soviet Union finally returned ''EK-26'' to the U.S. Navy at [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka|Yokosuka]], Japan.<ref>Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: [[Naval Historical Center]], 1997, {{ISBN|0-945274-35-1}}, pp. 37–38, 39.</ref>

===U.S. Navy, Korean War, 1950–1952===
Returning to her original name, ''Gloucester'' lay idle in the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]] at Yokosuka until recommissioned on 11 October 1950 for service in the [[Korean War]]. She departed Yokosuka on 27 November 1950 bound for [[Korea]] and conducted [[patrol]] and [[anti-submarine]] warfare duties at [[Wonsan]], [[Pusan]], [[Inchon]], and [[Gunsan|Kusan]] until returning to Yokosuka on 21 January 1951.  ''Gloucester'' subsequently engaged in patrol and escort duties at Wonsan and saw combat on 18 June 1951, when with other ships, she blasted gun emplacements at Wonsan.  She continued her duties in Korean waters through the fall of 1951.  On 11 November 1951 while cruising off [[Kojo, North Korea|Kojo]] during a duel with shore batteries, ''Gloucester'' took a direct hit that killed [[Storekeeper]] Third Class Louis Jaramillo and wounded 11 others.  Following repairs in Japan, she returned to Korean waters to continue support of [[United Nations]] forces ashore. Arriving at Yokosuka on 5 September 1952, she was decommissioned there on 15 September 1952.

===Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 1953–1969===
The United States loaned ''Gloucester'' to Japan on 1 October 1953 for service in the [[Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force]], where she served as {{nihongo|'''JDS ''Tsuge'' (PF-12)'''|つげ (PF-12)||"[[buxus microphylla]]"}}.{{Sfn|The Naval Database}} ''Tsuge'' was redesignated '''PF-292''' on 1 September 1957.{{Sfn|The Naval Database}} The United States struck her from the [[Navy List]] on 1 December 1961 and transferred her to Japan outright in March 1962.

Japan decommissioned ''Tsuge'' on 31 March 1968 and returned her to U.S. custody on 31 March 1969 for disposal. Her final disposition is unknown.

==Awards==

*[[Combat Action Ribbon]]
*[[American Campaign Medal]]
*[[World War II Victory Medal]]
*[[National Defense Service Medal]]
*[[Korean Service Medal]] with seven [[battle star]]s
*[[Korean Presidential Unit Citation]]
*[[United Nations Service Medal]]
*[[Korean Defense Service Medal]] (Korea)

== References ==
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/g6/gloucester-ii.htm}}
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|12/08022|USS Gloucester}}
* {{cite web| title = The Naval Database: JMSDF Kusu class patrol frigate (PF292) Tsuge | url = http://hush.gooside.com/Text/3T/33Tsu/T31aTsuka_.html#anchor65242 | language=ja | ref = {{SfnRef|The Naval Database}} | access-date = 2014-09-22 }}

{{Tacoma class patrol frigate|others}}
{{Project Hula ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloucester (PF-22)}}
[[Category:Tacoma-class frigates]]
[[Category:Ships built in Superior, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:Tacoma-class frigates of the Soviet Navy]]
[[Category:World War II frigates of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Cold War frigates of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Cold War frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:Korean War frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:Tacoma-class frigates of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force]]
[[Category:Ships transferred under Project Hula]]