USS ''Evansville'' (PF-70), a in commission from 1944 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1953, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Evansville, Indiana. She also served in the Soviet Navy as ''EK-30'' and in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as JDS ''Keyaki'' (PF-15), JDS ''Keyaki'' (PF-295) and ''YAC-21''.

Construction and commissioning

''Evansville'' was launched on 27 November 1943, by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company at

Sturgeon Bay Sturgeon Bay is an arm of Green Bay extending southeastward approximately 10 miles into the Door Peninsula at the city of Sturgeon Bay, located approximately halfway up the Door Peninsula. The bay is connected to Lake Michigan by the Sturge ...

, Wisconsin, sponsored by Mrs. Don Davis, daughter of the Mayor of Evansville, Indiana. She was commissioned on 4 December 1944.

Service history

U.S. Navy, World War II, 1944-1945

''Evansville'' steamed down the Mississippi River and after calling at Mobile, Alabama, reached

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

, South Carolina, on 31 December 1944. Through the next six months, she had escort duty along the United States East Coast and to Bermuda, patrolled off

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and served briefly as a

weather ship A weather ship, or ocean station vessel, was a ship stationed in the ocean for surface and upper air meteorological observations for use in weather forecasting. They were primarily located in the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans, reportin ...

ocean weather station A weather ship, or ocean station vessel, was a ship stationed in the ocean for surface and upper air meteorological observations for use in weather forecasting. They were primarily located in the north Atlantic and north Pacific oceans, reportin ...

s. Earmarked for transfer to the Soviet Navy in Project Hula, a secret program at Cold Bay in the Territory of Alaska for the transfer of U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy in anticipation of the Soviet Union joining the war against Japan, ''Evansville'' departed New York City on 9 July 1945, transited the Panama canal, and steamed to San Diego, California and Seattle, Washington, before proceeding to Cold Bay. Training of her new Soviet crew soon began.

Soviet Navy, 1945–1949

Following the completion of training for her Soviet crew, ''Evansville'' was decommissioned on 4 September 1945 at Cold Bay and transferred to the Soviet Union under

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

immediately along with her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s , , and , the last of 28 patrol frigates transferred to the Soviet Navy in Project Hula. Commissioned into the Soviet Navy immediately, ''Newport'' was designated as a ''storozhevoi korabl'' ("escort ship") and renamed ''EK-30'' in Soviet service. 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-30'' remained at Cold Bay along with ''EK-26'' (ex-''Gloucester''), ''EK-28'' (ex-''Newport''), and ''EK-29'' (ex-''Bath'') for additional

shakedown Shakedown may refer to: * Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation * Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational * Extortion, ...

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. Too late for World War II service with the Soviet Navy, ''EK-30'' served as a patrol vessel in the Soviet Far East. 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 James Vincent Forrestal (February 15, 1892 – May 22, 1949) was the last Cabinet-level United States Secretary of the Navy and the first United States Secretary of Defense. Forrestal came from a very strict middle-class Irish Catholic fami ...

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-30'' among them. Negotiations for the return of the ships were protracted, but in October or November 1949 the Soviet Union finally returned ''EK-30'' to the U.S. Navy at Yokosuka, Japan.Russell, Richard A., ''Project Hula: Secret Soviet-American Cooperation in the War Against Japan'', Washington, D.C.: Naval Historical Center, 1997, , pp. 37-38, 39.

U.S. Navy, Korean War, 1950–1953

Reverting to her original name, ''Evansville'' lay idle in the

Pacific Reserve Fleet The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...

at Yokosuka until the U.S. Navy recommissioned her for service in the Korean War on 29 July 1950. During the war, she patrolled out of Yokosuka and in Korean waters until decommissioned on 28 February 1953.

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 1953–1976

On 31 October 1953, the ship was transferred under the

Mutual Defense Assistance Program The Mutual Defense Assistance Act was a United States Act of Congress signed by President Harry S. Truman on 6 October 1949. For US Foreign policy, it was the first U.S. military foreign aid legislation of the Cold War era, and initially to Eur ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

for service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, which she served as . The JMSDF reclassified her as PF-295 on 1 September 1957. Reclassified as an "auxiliary stock craft" (YAC) and renamed ''YAC-21'', the ship was decommissioned on 31 March 1976 and returned to U.S. custody on 15 October 1976 for disposal. She was scrapped in 1977.

References

External links

*
hazegray.org: USS ''Evansville''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Evansville (PF-70) Tacoma-class frigates Ships built in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin 1943 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Tacoma-class frigates of the Soviet Navy World War II frigates of the Soviet Union Cold War frigates of the Soviet Union Cold War frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Korean War frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Tacoma-class frigates of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Evansville, Indiana Ships transferred under Project Hula