USS Shreveport (PF-23)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Shreveport.

The first USS Shreveport (PG-131/PF-23) was a Tacoma-class frigate of the United States Navy.

History
United States
Name	Shreveport
Namesake	City of Shreveport, Louisiana
Builder	Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
Laid down	8 March 1943
Launched	15 July 1943
Commissioned	24 April 1944
Decommissioned	9 May 1946
Stricken	10 June 1946
Fate	Sold for scrapping, September 1947
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 11 in (11.56 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 dual purpose guns (3x1) 4 x 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

She was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1434) on 8 March 1943 by Walter Butler Shipbuilders, Inc., in Superior, Wisconsin; reclassified PF-23 on 15 April 1943; launched on 15 July 1943, sponsored by Miss Nell Querbes; and commissioned on 24 April 1944 at Algiers, Louisiana.

Service history

Following shakedown off Bermuda, Shreveport arrived at Boston, Massachusetts, on 9 November 1944. Conversion to a weather ship followed (the after 3-inch gun was removed and a weather balloon hangar was added); and on 2 March 1945, she departed Boston and headed north to assume weather reporting and aircraft lifeguard duties in the North Atlantic.

Operating on stations between Newfoundland and Iceland, she completed her North Atlantic service in the fall and moved south, to Recife, Brazil, whence she conducted similar patrols from December 1945 until March 1946. She sailed for the United States on 8 March; was transferred to the operational control of the Coast Guard while en route; arrived at Boston on the 23rd; then, steamed to Charleston, South Carolina, for inactivation.

Shreveport was decommissioned on 9 May 1946; struck from the Navy list on 10 June; and sold for scrapping to the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania, in September 1947.

References

• Photo gallery of USS Shreveport at NavSource Naval History
• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.