Key West stood out of Galveston Bay on 17 November 1944 for training exercises and escort duty out of Bermuda. The frigate operated there until sailing for Norfolk 22 December. Key West departed Hampton Roads on 18 January 1945, escorting a convoy to Oran, Algeria, and returned to Boston, Massachusetts, on 28 February.
During the next four months, she made two cruises out of Casco Bay, Maine. Upon her return to New York on 14 June, from her final cruise, Key West remained at Brooklyn until 5 July, when she sailed for Boston for conversion to a weather ship. Overall, Key West crossed the Atlantic approximately six times.
She departed Boston on 31 July, and after transiting the Panama Canal, arrived at Pearl Harbor on 23 August. Key West was then assigned to duty of weather station patrol in the vicinity of Guam, arriving there on 10 September. She operated out of Apra Harbor reporting meteorological data and stood by to aid ships in distress until 14 March 1946 when she arrived at San Francisco, California. Key West departed San Francisco on 9 April and served for three weeks on plane-guard station off the North California Coast. The weather ship arrived at Seattle, Washington, on 1 May, and was decommissioned at Bremerton, Washington, on 14 June 1946. She was sold on 18 April 1947 to Cascade Enterprises of Oakland, California, and scrapped.
USS Key West was originally fitted with an evaporator to provide steam for the reciprocating engine and fresh water for the crew. However, the evaporators for accompanying destroyer escorts provided insufficient fresh water. Thus, Key West was fitted with an additional evaporator. This, combined with fresh water rationing by the crew of Key West, allowed the destroyer escorts to be loaded with extra, sufficient fresh water daily.
Photo gallery of USS Key West at NavSource Naval History
hazegray.org: USS Key West
January 29, 2023
west, other, ships, with, same, name, west, west, tacoma, class, frigate, second, ship, united, states, navy, named, west, florida, being, launched, sideways, 1943historyunited, statesnamekey, westnamesakecity, west, floridabuilderamerican, ship, building, com. For other ships with the same name see USS Key West USS Key West PG 125 PF 17 a Tacoma class frigate was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for Key West Florida USS Key West PF 17 being launched sideways in 1943HistoryUnited StatesNameKey WestNamesakeCity of Key West FloridaBuilderAmerican Ship Building Company Lorain OhioLaunched29 December 1943Commissioned7 November 1944Decommissioned14 June 1946FateSold for scrapping 18 April 1947General characteristicsClass and typeTacoma class frigateDisplacement1 430 long tons 1 453 t light 2 415 long tons 2 454 t fullLength303 ft 11 in 92 63 m Beam37 ft 11 in 11 56 m Draft13 ft 8 in 4 17 m Propulsion2 5 500 shp 4 101 kW 3 stage reciprocating engines 3 boilers 2 shaftsSpeed20 knots 37 km h 23 mph Complement190Armament3 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 Contents 1 Construction 2 Service history 3 References 4 External linksConstruction EditThe second Key West PF 17 originally classified PG 125 was launched on 29 December 1943 by the American Ship Building Company in Lorain Ohio The ship was sponsored by Mrs Vernon Lowe sister of Lieutenant Harold Felton the first resident of Key West reported missing in World War II Key West was commissioned at Houston Texas on 7 November 1944 Service history EditKey West stood out of Galveston Bay on 17 November 1944 for training exercises and escort duty out of Bermuda The frigate operated there until sailing for Norfolk 22 December Key West departed Hampton Roads on 18 January 1945 escorting a convoy to Oran Algeria and returned to Boston Massachusetts on 28 February During the next four months she made two cruises out of Casco Bay Maine Upon her return to New York on 14 June from her final cruise Key West remained at Brooklyn until 5 July when she sailed for Boston for conversion to a weather ship Overall Key West crossed the Atlantic approximately six times She departed Boston on 31 July and after transiting the Panama Canal arrived at Pearl Harbor on 23 August Key West was then assigned to duty of weather station patrol in the vicinity of Guam arriving there on 10 September She operated out of Apra Harbor reporting meteorological data and stood by to aid ships in distress until 14 March 1946 when she arrived at San Francisco California Key West departed San Francisco on 9 April and served for three weeks on plane guard station off the North California Coast The weather ship arrived at Seattle Washington on 1 May and was decommissioned at Bremerton Washington on 14 June 1946 She was sold on 18 April 1947 to Cascade Enterprises of Oakland California and scrapped USS Key West was originally fitted with an evaporator to provide steam for the reciprocating engine and fresh water for the crew However the evaporators for accompanying destroyer escorts provided insufficient fresh water Thus Key West was fitted with an additional evaporator This combined with fresh water rationing by the crew of Key West allowed the destroyer escorts to be loaded with extra sufficient fresh water daily References EditThis article incorporates text from the public domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The entry can be found here External links EditPhoto gallery of USS Key West at NavSource Naval History hazegray org USS Key West Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USS Key West PF 17 amp oldid 1092750537, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
