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:
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:

  • Laid down in March 1887 for the Spanish Navy as Pampanga at Manila Ship Co., Cavite, Philippines
  • Launched in February 1888
  • Captured by the U.S. Army at Manila Bay in June 1898
  • Commissioned USS Pampanga, 8 June 1898
  • Turned over to the Navy 9 November 1899 and outfitted at Cavite Naval Yard
  • Decommissioned 30 April 1907 at Cavite Navy Yard
  • Loaned to U.S. Army 31 December 1908
  • Returned to Navy custody 11 November 1910
  • Recommissioned 12 April 1911
  • Decommissioned 31 May 1915 at Olongapo, Philippines
  • Recommissioned 3 January 1916 at Hong Kong
  • Decommissioned
  • Recommissioned 15 August 1917
  • Designated PG-39, 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned 6 November 1928
  • Sunk as a target 21 November 1928 off the China coast by USS Asheville (PG-21) and USS Sacramento (PG-19).

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 243 t.
  • Length 121'
  • Length between perpendiculars 115' 3"
  • Beam 17' 10"
  • Draft 7' 6"
    1921 - 6' 6"
  • Speed 10 kts.
  • Complement 30
    1921 - 32
  • Armament: 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 127k Robert M. Cieri
    Pampanga 114k 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)
    Collection of C.A. Shively, 1978
    U.S. Navy photo NH 88559    		 Naval Historical Center
    Pampanga 84k High and dry at low water on the West River (Xi River), China
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo from "Gunboats and Marines: The United States Navy in China, 1925-1928    		 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 History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Index Back to the Patrol Gunboat (PG) 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