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NavSource Online: Frigate Photo Archive

HMS Pitcairn (K 559)
ex-Pilford
ex-PF-85



Call sign:
Nan - Zebra - Victor - How

ex-PG-193

PF-85 served only in the Royal Navy

Tacoma Class Patrol Frigate/British Colony Class Frigate:

  • (MC Type T. S2-S2-AQ1) Originally authorized as Patrol Gunboat, PG-193
  • Reclassified as a Patrol Frigate, PF-85, 15 April 1943
  • Laid down under a Maritime Commission contract at Welsh-Kaiser Co., Inc., Providence, RI
  • Assigned to the Royal Navy under the Lend-Lease Program and named Pilford
  • Renamed Pitcairn and launched 15 October 1943
  • Transferred to the Royal Navy 6 July 1944 and commissioned HMS Pitcairn (K-559)
  • Returned to U.S. Navy custody 11 June 1946
  • Struck from the Navy Register 3 July 1946
  • Returned to the Maritime Commission for disposal and sold for scrap 5 November 1947 to John J. Duane Co. of Quincy, MA.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,246 t.
  • Length 304'
  • Beam 37' 6"
  • Draft 14'
  • Speed 20 kts.
  • Complement 176
  • Armament: Three 3"/50 dual purpose mounts, two twin 40mm mounts, nine 20mm mounts, one Hedgehog, eight depth charge projectors and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Three 240psi 3-drum express boilers, two 5,500ihp J. Hendy Iron Works engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PF-85
    PF-92, PF-88, PF-85, PF-87 & PF-91 355k 25 February 1944
    PF-92, PF-88, PF-85, PF-87 and PF-91 under construction
    Photo from Walsh-Kaiser Company Inc. Report No.11, February 29, 1944, Progress of Construction of 21 S2-S2-AQ1 Frigates    		 Paul Silverstone
    HMS Pitcairn (K 559)
    PF-85 92k
    Namesake:

    Pitcairn - An island colony of the United Kingdom located in the South Pacific, equidistant between Tahiti and Easter Islands

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Pilford 16k
    View the PF-85
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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