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

Action (PG 86)
ex-Comfrey (K 277)
ex CN-304



Action call sign:
November - Zulu - Bravo - Charlie
British Flower Class Corvette/Action Class Patrol Gunboat:

  • Built by Collingwood Shipbuilding, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada (YN 105)
  • Contracted, 06 October 1941
  • Laid down as CN-304, 06 January 1942
  • Named HMS Comfrey (K 277)
  • Launched, 28 July 1942
  • Renamed Action, 13 August 1942
  • Acquired by the U.S. Navy, 21 November 1942
  • Commissioned USS Action (PG-86), 22 November 1942
  • Decommissioned at Charleston, SC, 06 September 1945
  • Struck from the Naval register, 17 September 1945
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission, October 1945
  • Sold to Jonassons Rederier, Helsingborg, Sweden, as Action, 06 February 1946
  • Sold to Johs. Presthus, Bergen, Norway, renamed Arne Presthus, August 1951
  • Converted to cargo carrier and dieselized with 6-cylinder MAN diesel, 1952
  • Sold to Orri Navigation Lines, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, renamed Star of Mariam, 1967
  • Sold to Fontana Shipping Co., Ltd., Famagusta, Cyrpus, renamed Star of Beirut, 1971
  • Final disposition, wrecked on reef near Ashrafi Lighthouse in Gulf of Suez

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1375 t.
  • Length 205'
  • Beam 33'
  • Draft 14' 7"
  • Speed 16.5 kts.
  • Complement 90
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 dual purpose mounts, two 20mm guns, two depth charge tracks, four depth charge projectors and one hedgehog depth charge projector
  • Propulsion: Two 3-drum express boilers, 2,750ihp vertical triple expansion Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Flower Class Corvette 168k "Escort Vessel (Corvette) - (Flower Class) - With Extended Forecastle, Increased Sheer, & Fuller Lines Fwd."
    U.S. Navy preliminary design plan, copied from Smith Dock Co., Ltd., Drawing No. 232. This plan, dated April 1941, is for a modification of the British "Flower" class corvette. Scale of the original drawing is not given, but appears to be 1/16" = 1'.
    The original plan is in the 1939-1944 "Spring Styles Book" held by the Naval Historical Center.
    U.S. Navy photo S-511-30    		 Naval Historical Center
    Action
    120908601    		 62k As Arne Presthus, date and location unknown.
    photo via skipshistorie.net    		 John Spivey
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Kendall Read, USN22 November 1942 - 14 June 1943
    02LCDR Ralph David Dean, USCG14 June 1943 - 7 September 1945
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Action (PG 86)
    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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Gary Priolo and maintained by Dave Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 09 June 2024