Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Patrol Frigate Photo Archive

USCGC Woonsocket (PF 32)
ex-USS Woonsocket (PF-32)



Call sign:
Nan - Zebra - Tare - Yoke

ex-PG-140


Woonsocket served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard.


Woonsocket served the Navies of the United States and Peru.
Tacoma Class Patrol Frigate:

  • (MC Type T. S2-S2-AQ1) The first Woonsocket was originally assigned as a Patrol Gunboat, PG-140
  • Reclassified as a Patrol Frigate, PF-32, 25 June 1943
  • Laid down 12 August 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1443) by Walter Butler Shipbuilders Inc., Superior, Wisconsin
  • Accepted by the Navy, 27 July 1944 at Boston Navy Yard
  • Commissioned USS Woonsocket (PF-32), 1 September 1944
  • Decommissioned 16 March 1946 and recommissioned in the Coast Guard as USCGC Woonsocket (PF 32) the same day
  • Decommissioned 18 September 1946 at New Orleans, LA
  • Struck from the Navy Register 14 May 1947
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in September 1947
  • Transferred to Peru and renamed BAP Teniente Galvez (F 1)
  • Renamed and reclassified BAP Gálvez (FE 1)
  • Decommissioned in 1961 and scrapped.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,430 t.
  • Length 303' 11"(oa)
  • Beam 37' 6"
  • Draft 13' 8"
  • Speed 20.3 kts.
  • Complement 176
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts, two twin 40mm gun mounts , nine 20mm guns, one Hedgehog depth charge projector; eight Y-gun depth charge projectors and two depth charge racks
  • Propulsion: Two 3-drum express boilers, two 5,500iHP Beloit Iron Works steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Woonsocket (PF 32)
    Woonsocket 50k On her trials, in Lake Superior, mid 1944
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 69569    		 Joseph P. Heyde, RMC, USCG, Ret.
    Woonsocket 48k
    Woonsocket 66k 18 September 1944 Robert Hurst
    Woonsocket 103k Off the Boston Navy Yard, 18 September 1944
    National Archives photo 19-N-71030    		 Mike Green
    Woonsocket 111k Anchored at Bermuda in May 1945
    Courtesy of Chief Personnelman George K. McCuistion, USNR, 1970
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 69568
    BAP Teniente Gálvez (F 1)
    Woonsocket 51k c. 1951
    Peruvian Navy photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Woonsocket 172k Off Norfolk on 18 April 1952
    Courtesy Dr. R. L. Scheina
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 87844    		 Mike Green
    Woonsocket 259k Off San Diego on 6 March 1953 with USS Lenawee(APA-195) in the distance
    Courtesy Dr. R. L. Scheina
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 87843
    BAP Gálvez (FE 1)
    Woonsocket 65k c. 1959
    Peruvian Navy photo from the 1959/1960 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01CDR William Joseph Conley, Jr., USCG1 September 1944
    02LCDR E. E. Schwenzfeger, USCG7 July 1945 - 9 NOvember 1945
    03LCDR Howard A. White, USCG9 November 1945 - 16 March 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler
    View the Woonsocket (PF 32)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Patrol Gunboat (PG) Photo Index Back to the Patrol Frigate (PF) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History