USS Belfast

History
United States
Name	USS Belfast (PG-143)
Namesake	Belfast, Maine
Builder	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, California
Laid down	26 March 1943
Reclassified	PF-35, 15 April 1943
Launched	20 May 1943
Sponsored by	Miss Elizabeth C. Wilson
Commissioned	24 November 1944
Decommissioned	11 July 1945
Honors and awards	2 battle stars, World War II
Fate	transferred to the Soviet Navy, 12 July 1945
Stricken	31 January 1950
History
Soviet Union
Name	EK-3
Acquired	12 July 1945
Fate	Ran aground and wrecked, 17 November 1948
General characteristics
Class and type	Tacoma-class frigate
Displacement	1,430 long tons (1,453 t) light 2,415 long tons (2,454 t) full
Length	303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam	37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft	13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion	2 × 5,500 shp (4,101 kW) turbines 3 boilers 2 shafts
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	190
Armament	• 3 × 3"/50 caliber guns (3×1) • 4 × 40 mm guns (2×2) • 9 × 20 mm guns (9×1) • 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar • 8 × Y-gun depth charge projectors • 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Belfast (PF-35), a Tacoma-class frigate, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Belfast, Maine.

Belfast (PF-35) was laid down on 26 March 1943 at Wilmington, California, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1446); launched on 20 May 1943; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth C. Wilson; and placed in commission at Terminal Island, California, on 24 November 1943, Lt. Comdr. J. J. Hutson, USCG, in command.

Service history

Following outfitting, shakedown, and post-shakedown repairs, the frigate stood out of San Pedro, California, on 30 April 1944 and headed for Australia. After stopping at Noumea, New Caledonia, Belfast reached Cairns, at the end of May. From there, it moved into the southwestern Pacific theater of operations to serve as a patrol vessel and a convoy escort. During the summer and early fall of 1944, the warship supported the latter stages of the leapfrog assaults along the northern coast of New Guinea. It took part in the Noemfoor Island landing on 2 July and in the assault on Cape Opmarai four weeks later.

Belfast continued to operate in the waters around western New Guinea until sent to escort a reinforcement convoy to Leyte in the Philippines during October. It then operated around Leyte from the end of October until the second week in December. Near the end of 1944, it headed back to the United States and arrived at Boston on 24 January 1945 for extensive repairs lasting until spring.

Late in March, the patrol frigate headed back to the west coast. It stopped in the Panama Canal Zone and at Seattle, Port Townsend, and Kodiak before arriving at Cold Bay, Alaska, on 15 June. For about a month, her American crew trained the ship's prospective Soviet crew.

On 12 July 1945, Belfast was decommissioned and transferred to the Soviet Union under the terms of the lend lease program. Renamed EK-3, the ship served in the Soviet Navy until 17 November 1948 when she ran aground off Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Siberia. It was declared a total loss by the Navy on 14 November 1949, and the ship's name was struck from the Navy list on 31 January 1950.

Belfast earned two battle stars for its World War II service.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Belfast at NavSource Naval History
• hazegray.org: USS Belfast