USS ''Abilene'' (PF-58), a , was in the service of the
United States Navy, named after the city of
Abilene, Kansas
Abilene (pronounced ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Dickinson County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 6,460. It is home of The Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and the G ...
.
Construction
She was laid down on 6 May 1943 as ''Bridgeport'',
Maritime Commission (MARCOM) hull 1465, and originally classified as
patrol gunboat
A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers, military personnel, or security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area.
Etymology
From French ''patrouiller'', from Old Frenc ...
, PG-166, on 6 May 1943, at the
Globe Shipbuilding Company in
Superior, Wisconsin
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. She was launched on 21 August 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Thomas F. Rogers; acquired by the Navy on 31 May 1944; renamed ''Abilene'', reclassified a
patrol frigate, and assigned hull number PF-58 on 28 June 1944; and
commissioned on 28 October 1944 with
Lieutenant Commander Chester I. Steel,
USCG, in command.
Service history
Following
shakedown at
Bermuda, ''Abilene'' steamed to
NS Argentina,
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
, where she joined the
North Atlantic Weather Patrol
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north'' is ...
. She operated on this station through May 1945, conducting weather observations and rendering navigational assistance to
airplanes.
After a brief period of upkeep at
Boston, Massachusetts, ''Abilene'' assumed
air-sea rescue duties in the
Atlantic in June 1945. As a member of Task Group 24.5, the patrol vessel collected weather data while serving as a
plane guard along the air routes between Europe and the United States.
Decommissioning
''Abilene'' was decommissioned at
New Orleans, Louisiana, on 21 August 1946. Her name was struck from the
Navy list on 13 November 1946. The ship was sold to the government of the
Netherlands on 5 May 1947.
The ship was renamed ''Cirrus'', and eventually scrapped in 1969.
Notes
;Citations
Bibliography
Online resources
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abilene (PF-58)
Tacoma-class frigates
World War II patrol vessels of the United States
Ships built in Superior, Wisconsin
1943 ships
Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Royal Netherlands Navy