The first USS ''Luzon'' (PG-47) was laid down 20 November 1926 by the Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works, Shanghai, China; launched 12 September 1927; sponsored by Miss Mary C. Carter, daughter of Commander Andrew F. Carter, USN; and commissioned 1 June 1928.

Service history

One of eight gunboats built for service on the Yangtze River in China, ''Luzon'' was redesignated PR-7 on 15 June. From commissioning until December 1938, she served as the flagship of the

Yangtze River Patrol The Yangtze Patrol, also known as the Yangtze River Patrol Force, Yangtze River Patrol, YangPat and ComYangPat, was a prolonged naval operation from 1854–1949 to protect American interests in the Yangtze River's treaty ports. The Yangtze P ...

, operating out of Hankou, between such ports as Nanjing,

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

, and Shanghai. In August 1937, after the Japanese had attacked Shanghai, ''Luzon'' evacuated the American Embassy staff to

. In December 1938 the river gunboat arrived at Shanghai to relieve as station ship. Except for infrequent calls at Nanjing,

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma'anshan ...

and other ports on the Yangtze, she remained off Shanghai until 29 November 1941 when she departed for the Philippines. ''Luzon'' arrived at Manila on 30 December, just 23 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II. She then began patrol operations in the waters of the Philippines, assisting in the defense of both Bataan, from 1 February until the surrender of the peninsula to the Japanese 9 April, and

Corregidor Corregidor ( tl, Pulo ng Corregidor, ) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines, and is considered part of the Province of Cavite. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically b ...

, from the beginning evacuations of that entrance island to Manila Bay until the enemy landings 5 May. The next day, with the surrender of the Corregidor and Manila Bay forts to the Japanese, ''Luzon'', along with and , were scuttled in Manila Bay to prevent capture, and subsequently struck from the Navy List on 8 May 1942.

Service in Japan

In late May 1942, the ''Luzon'' was salvaged by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and repair begun at the 103rd Repair Facility at Cavite. Her forward 3-inch AA gun was replaced by a built-up superstructure and her bow was adorned with two Imperial crests, one on each side. On 1 August, ''Luzon'' was renamed ''Karatsu'' (唐津) by the Japanese, after the city of Karatsu and assigned to the

Sasebo Naval District was the third of five main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included the western and southern coastline of Kyūshū, the Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Korea, as well as patrols in the East China Sea and t ...

. There, she was assigned to the Southwest Area Fleet's Third Southern Expeditionary Fleet, then commanded by Vice Admiral Ibō Takahashi. Although classified by the Japanese as a riverine gunboat, repair work continued to convert her into a sea-going

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

, including the installation of a sonar system. Refit work was completed on 14 October, and she was reassigned to the Cebu Guard Unit the following day. For the next two years, she operated mostly in conjunction with Imperial Japanese Army to conduct counter-guerrilla operations, with secondary escort/patrol missions. It was during one of these missions the she helped sink the submarine , assisted by two Nakajima B5Ns from the IJN 954th Air Group (海軍第954航空隊九七艦攻). On 3 March 1944, the ''Karatsu'' was torpedoed off the Philippine Islands by the , and had to be towed back to Cebu with her bow blown back to the bridge. The damage was too extensive for repairs at Cebu, and she was towed to Manila to No. 103 Repair Facility at Cavite. On 22 January 1945, before the repairs could be completed, she was ordered to depart Manila as soon as possible. Unable to complete the work in time, the IJN decided to scuttle her in order to block a channel in Manila Bay on 5 February. On 10 April, ''Karatsu'' was struck from the IJN naval list.

Awards

Yangtze Service Medal The Yangtze Service Medal is a decoration of the United States military which was created in 1930 for presentation to members of the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps (and to a lesser extent, members of the United States Army). Th ...

* China Service Medal * American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp * Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star * World War II Victory Medal * Philippine Defense Medal

References

External links

Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Luzon Gunboats of the United States Navy Second Sino-Japanese War naval ships Naval ships of the United States captured by Japan during World War II Ships built in China 1927 ships Maritime incidents in May 1942 Maritime incidents in March 1944 World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Riverine warfare Maritime incidents in February 1945 Gunboats of the Imperial Japanese Navy Shipwrecks of the Philippines Ships of the Yangtze Patrol