USS Woonsocket

History
United States
Name	Woonsocket
Namesake	City of Woonsocket, Rhode Island
Builder	Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin
Laid down	12 August 1943
Launched	27 September 1943
Commissioned	1 September 1944
Decommissioned	16 March 1946
Stricken	14 May 1947
Fate	Transferred to the US Coast Guard, 16 March 1946
United States
Name	Woonsocket
Commissioned	16 March 1944
Decommissioned	18 September 1946
Fate	Sold to Peru, 1947
Peru
Name	Teniente Gálvez
Acquired	1948
Decommissioned	1961
Renamed	Gálvez
Reclassified	FE-1
Fate	Broken up
General characteristics
Class and type	Tacoma-class frigate
Displacement	1,264 long tons (1,284 t)
Length	303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam	37 ft 6 in (11.43 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;

USS Woonsocket (PF-32) was a Tacoma-class frigate in service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was sold to Peru in 1947, where she served as BAP Gálvez (F-1/FE-1) until 1961.

Construction[edit]

USS Woonsocket (PF-32) was named for Woonsocket, Rhode Island. She was originally classified as PG-140 and re-designated PF-32 on 25 June 1943, was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1443) on 12 August 1943 at the Walter Butler Shipbuilding Company in Superior, Wisconsin; launched on 27 September 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Ernest E. Dupre, wife of the mayor of Woonsocket; ferried to the Boston Navy Yard for completion; accepted by the Navy on 27 July 1944; and commissioned with a Coast Guard crew on 1 September 1944.

Service history[edit]

Following shakedown off Bermuda, Woonsocket returned to Boston for conversion to a weather ship before proceeding to Newfoundland, arriving at NS Argentia on 30 October. She performed meteorological charting duties off Newfoundland through the end of World War II and into the early months of 1946. She was decommissioned by the Navy on 16 March 1946 and recommissioned simultaneously by the Coast Guard on a loan basis. Woonsocket served with the Coast Guard until her final decommissioning on 18 September 1946 at New Orleans, Louisiana

Peruvian service[edit]

Struck from the Navy list on 14 May 1947, the frigate was subsequently transferred to the Government of Peru. She served the Peruvian Navy first as Teniente Gálvez (F 1) and later simply as Gálvez. Reclassified FE-1, she was decommissioned in 1961, and later broken up.

References[edit]

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links[edit]

Photo gallery of USS Woonsocket (PF-32) at NavSource Naval History