Abilene (PF-58)
1944-1946
A city in the state of Kansas.
(PF-58: displacement 2,100; length 303'11"; beam 37'6"; draft 13'8"; speed 20.3 knots; complement 176; armament 2 3-inch, 4 40 millimeter, 4 20 millimeter, 2 depth charge tracks, 8 depth charge projector; classTacoma; type S2-S2-AQ1)
Bridgeport (PF-58) was laid down on 6 May 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract (M..C. Hull 1465) at Superior, Wis., by the Globe Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 21 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas F. Rogers; acquired by the Navy on 31 May 1944; renamed Abilene on 28 June 1944; and commissioned at New Orleans, La., on 28 October 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Chester I. Steel, USCG, in command.
Following shakedown at Bermuda, Abilene steamed to Argentia, Newfoundland, where she joined the North Atlantic Weather Patrol. 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, Mass., 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.
Abilene was decommissioned at New Orleans 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.
Lou Ann Parsons
12 July 2022
