Milledgeville II (PC-1263)
(PC‑1263: dp. 280; l. 173'8"; b. 23'; dr. 10'10"; s. 20 k.; cpl. 60; a. 1 3", 1 40mm., 3 20mm., 2 dct., 4 dcp.; cl. PC‑461)
A city in central Georgia.
PF-98, reclassified from PG-206 on 15 April 1943, was named Milledgeville 11 October 1943 while under construction at American Shipbuilding Co., Lorain, Ohio. However, her construction was canceled 31 December 1943 and her name was reassigned to PF‑94 on 7 February 1944.
II
The second Milledgeville (PC-1263) was laid down by Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, Wis., 2 March 1942; launched 19 April 1943; and commissioned at New Orleans, La., 28 July 1943, Lt. R. S. Stevens, Jr., in command.
After shakedown along the eastern coast of Florida, PC‑1263 operated out of Miami until September, when she steamed to New York for duty as a convoy escort. During the next 6 months she escorted troop transports and supply ships between New York and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Thence, after fitting out for overseas duty, she departed New York in a convoy screen 25 March 1944 and sailed to England, arriving Plymouth 19 April.
As the Allies completed final preparations for the invasion of France, PC-1263 escorted LSTs and LCIs between Plymouth and Falmouth. On D‑Day, 6 June, she departed Plymouth and escorted ships of Convoy B‑2 to positions off Utah Beach, then patrolled off the assault beaches. Assigned to DesRon 17, she carried out ASW and antiair patrols during the next several weeks. As the PC patrolled off the Saint-Marcouf Islands in the early hours of 9 June, her look‑outs saw Meredith (DD-726) explode after a German glide‑bomb bit her starboard side near the waterline. PC-1263 steamed to the wounded destroyer's assistance and embarked more than 100 survivors, transferring them to Tuscaloosa (CA-37).
German aerial and E‑boat attacks failed to halt the Allied invasion waves that swept ashore at Normandy. As the Allies fought to liberate the countries of Western Europe from the Nazis, PC-1263 continued patrol and screening duties along the coast of France.
Following the surrender of Germany 7 May 1946, she departed Europe 6 June and returned to the United States arriving Miami the 21st. She steamed to New England 20 October and for the remainder of the year operated between New York and Boston. For more than a decade PC-1263 operated from New England to the Caribbean. Between 1946 and 1948 she served out of Boston and Philadelphia, and on 1 August 1948 she made Key West her homeport. Named Milledgeville 15 February 1956, the patrol vessel provided valuable training facilities to maintain the constant readiness of the Navy during the Cold War era. She decommissioned 16 February 1959. Under the Military Assistance Program she transferred to the Republic of China 1 July 1959, and into 1969 serves the Chinese Nationalist Navy as To Kiang (PC-125).
PC-1263 received one battle star for World War II service.
