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Gunboat Photo Archive

Pampanga (PG 39)



Call sign (1912):
Nan - Oboe - Have

Call sign (1920):
George - Rush - Boy - Pup

Call sign (1921):
Nan - Quack - Tare


Pampanga served both the U. S. Navy and Army


Pampanga served the Navies of Spain and the United States
Patrol Gunboat:

  • Built by Manila Slip Co., Cavite, Philippines
  • Laid down, March 1887
  • Launched, February 1888
  • Completed for Spanish Navy as 3rd class gunboat (caņonero de 3.a) Pampanga, 1888
  • Captured by the U.S. Army at Manila Bay, June 1898
  • Commissioned USS Pampanga, 08 June 1898
  • Turned over to the Navy, 09 November 1899
  • Decommissioned at Cavite, 30 April 1907
  • Loaned to U.S. Army for use as patrol boat and ferry, 31 December 1908
  • Returned to Navy custody, 11 November 1910
  • Recommissioned, 12 April 1911
  • Decommissioned at Olongapo, 31 May 1915
  • Recommissioned at Hong Kong, 03 January 1916
  • Decommissioned, date unknown
  • Recommissioned 15 August 1917
  • Designated PG-39, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 6 November 1928
  • Sunk as a target off the China coast by gunboats USS Asheville (PG-21) and USS Sacramento (PG-19), 21 November 1928

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 243 tons
  • Length 121'
  • Length between perpendiculars 115' 3"
  • Beam 17' 10"
  • Draft 7' 6"
    1921 - 6' 6"
  • Speed 10 knots
  • Complement 30
    1921 - 32
  • Armament: as built - one 87mm/27 cal BL, one 70mm/16cal RF
    One 6-pounder and three 3-pounders
    1905 - One 6-pounder, three 3-pounders, two 1-pounders and two Colt machine guns
    1911 - Four 3-pounder rapid fire mounts and two 1-pounder rapid fire mounts
    1918 - Four 3-pounders
  • Propulsion: One single ended Scotch boiler, two 125ihp vertical compound engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Pampanga
    120903904    		 146k Undated broadside view of Pampanga.
    Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 63458 (cropped)    		 Dave Wright
    Pampanga
    120903902    		 127k Pampanga off Shameen Island, Canton, China, 1924.
    Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 100057, collection of Henry J. Poy    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Pampanga
    120903901    		 515k Olongapo Naval Station, Philippines. View of the waterfront, circa 1914-1916. Ships present are (from left to right): USS Monadnock (Monitor No. 3); USS Monterey
    (Monitor No. 6); USS Bainbridge (Destroyer No. 1); USS Decatur (Destroyer No. 5)    ; Pampanga; and USS Piscataqua (later AT-49)
    Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 88559, collection of C.A. Shively, 1978    		 NHHC
    Pampanga
    120903903    		 429k High and dry at low water on the West River (Xi River), Yangtze River,China, date unknown.
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 85010, courtesy of Donald McPherson, 1976    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Fred Rounsville Payne, USN - USNA Class of 18929 November 1899 - 27 February 1900
    02LT Montgomery Meigs Taylor, USN - USNA Class of 1890
    Awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal (1918) - Retired as Admiral    		27 February 1900 - 18 June 1902
    03ENS Oscar Fleet Cooper, USN18 June 1902 - 19 June 1903
    04LT Cyrus Robinson Miller, USN - USNA Class of 1897
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) - Retired as Captain    		19 June 1903 - 13 February 1904
    05ENS John Vincent Babcock, USN - USNA Class of 1901
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) - Retired as Captain    		13 February 1904 - 16 March 1905
    06Midshipman William Oscar Spears, USN - USNA Class of 1905
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1945) - Retired as Captain    		16 March 1905 - 28 January 1906
    07ENS Henry Davis Cooke, USN - USNA Class of 1903
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) and the Purple Heart (1943) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		28 January 1906 - 16 March 1906
    08LTJG Charles Armijo Woodruff, USN - USNA Class of 190612 April 1911
    09ENS Paul Jones Peyton, USN - USNA Class of 19081913
    10LTJG Julian Burton Timberlake, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 19133 January 1916
    11LT Herbert Keeney Fenn, USN - USNA Class of 1913
    Awarded the Legion of Merit (1945)    		September 1917 - 1918
    12LCDR James Downing Smith, USN - USNA Class of 19081918 - 15 September 1919
    13LT Earl Winfield Spencer, Jr., USN - USNA Class of 19101923
    14LT Leland Pearson Lovette, USN - USNA Class of 1918
    Awarded two Legion of Merits (1944/1945) - Retired as Vice Admiral    		1923 - 12 June 1924
    15LCDR Greene Williams Dugger, USN - USNA Class of 191412 June 1924
    16LT Stanley Cook Norton, USN - USNA Class of 1918
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1942) - Retired as Rear Admiral    		15 June 1926
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves, Bill Gonyo and Joe Radigan
    View the Pampanga (PG-39)
    DANFS entry at the Naval History & Heritage Command website
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by David L. Wright
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    Last Updated 30 January 2025