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Gunboat Photo Archive

Luzon (PR 7)



Call sign (1931):
Negative - Easy - George - Jig

Luzon (PG 47)


Luzon served the Navies of the United States and Imperial Japan
Shallow-draft River Gunboat:

  • Laid down 20 November 1926 by Kiangnan Dock and Engineering Works, Shanghai, China
  • Launched 12 September 1927
  • Commissioned USS Luzon (PG-47), 1 June 1928
  • Reclassified as a River Gunboat, PR-7, 15 June 1928
  • Hit by a shell in her admiral's quarters 6 February 1942, there were no casualties
  • Scuttled in Manila Bay, Philippines to prevent capture 6 May 1942
  • Struck from the Naval Register 8 May 1942
  • Salvaged by Japan and renamed IJNS Karatsu
  • Sunk 3 March 1944 by USS Narwhal (SS-167).

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 500 t.
  • Length 210' 9"
  • Beam 31'
  • Draft 6' (mean)
  • Speed 16 kts.
  • Complement 80
  • Armament: Two 3"/23 gun mounts and ten .30 cal. Lewis machine guns
  • Propulsion: Two 950hp triple expansion steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Luzon 38k U.S. Naval Institute photo
    Dudley Knox Library
    Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California,
    Yangtze River Patrol Memorial Exhibit
    Luzon 240k U.S. Navy photo Jim Kurrasch, Battleship Iowa, Pacific Battleship Center
    Panay & Luzon 206k Panay (PR 5), at left, and Luzon, at right at Ichang, China
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 50464    		 Mike Green
    Luzon 311k 3 April 1928
    Shanghai, China
    Under construction
    Library of Congress photo from National Museum of the U.S. Navy    		 Michael Mohl
    Luzon 162k 21 May 1928
    Off Woosung, China
    Conducting standardization trials (18.29 kts.)
    National Archives photo    		 Robert Hurst
    Luzon 165k c. 1929
    Aground on the Yangtze River
    Courtesy of Ben Godfrey
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 954013    		 Mike Green
    Luzon & Guam 219k Luzon on 4 July 1932, at Ichang, China, with USS Guam (PR-3) alongside "dressed" for the 4th
    Courtesy of Mr. W. G. Kelly, 1970
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 81249    		 Mike Green
    Luzon 29k Yangtze Patrol sailors on the river gunboat Luzon in 1932, armed with a Winchester Model 1897 shotgun. Model 1928 Thompson submachine guns with L drum magazines, Model 1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) and a Model 1917 Lewis Mark IV machine gun
    Photo by Finn W. Outler from Pinterest    		 Robert Hurst
    Luzon 177k Photo from the collection of CWO3 Fred L. Marut, USN, Ret., former crew member Robert Marut
    Luzon 401k 10 January 1934
    Hankow, China
    Luzon Dance at German Hall. Looks like a belated New Years Party
    Photo from the collection of CWO3 Fred L. Marut, USN, Ret., former crew member
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR George Johnston McMillin, USN1 June 1928 - 7 June 1929
    02LCDR Samuel Sylvester Thurston, USN7 June 1929
    03CDR Wilbur Joshua Carver, USN3 July 1931
    04CDR James Grady Ware, USN1932
    05LCDR William Moultrie Moses, USN1936
    06LCDR Arthur DeLancey Ayrault, USN - Retired as Rear Admiral1938
    07LCDR Charles Butler McVay, III, USN - USNA Class of 1920
    Retired as Rear Admiral    		July 1938 - July 1939
    08LCDR Wilfred E. Lankenau, USN1939
    09LCDR George Magruder Brooke, USN - Awarded the Navy Cross (Posthumously 1942)1940 - 6 May 1942
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Luzon (PG-47)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway 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 River Gunboat (PR) Photo Index
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