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Motor Gunboat/Patrol Gunboat Photo Archive

PGM-29
ex PC-1565



Call sign:
Nan - Item - Victor - Sugar


PGM-29 served the Navies of the United States and Greece
PGM-9 Class Motor Gunboat:
  • Built by Leathem B. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, WI (YN 320)
  • Ordered, 24 July 1944 (contract NOBS-1174)
  • Laid down as PC-1565, 11 May 1944
  • Launched, 16 July 1944
  • Reclassified Motor Gunboat PGM-29, 16 August 1944
  • Commissioned USS PGM-29, 29 November 1944
  • During World War II PGM-29 was assigned to the Asiatic Pacific theater and participated in the following operations:
    Okinawa Gunto Operation, 24 March - 30 June 1945
    Third Fleet Operations Against Japan, 10 July - 15 August 1945
    Minesweeping Operations, Pacific, Sasebo (Kyushu-Korea Area), 09 September - 17 October 1945, and
    Minesweeping Operations, Pacific, "Skyway" (East China Sea-Ryukyus Area), 14 August - 09 November 1945
  • Took part in Operation Crossroads, June-July 1946
  • Decommissioned and transferred to Greece as Plotarchis Hatzikonstantis (P 96) at Norfolk, VA, 11 December 1947
  • Arrived at Salamis, Greece, 13 March 1948
  • Took part in the civil war and then in patrols in the area of ??the eastern islands of the Aegean and the Dodecanese
  • Decommissioned, 10 July 1976
  • Reactivated to replace collision-damaged Antipliarchos Pezopoulos (P 70) (ex-PGM-21), 01 October 1977
  • Decommisisoned for second time, 20 July 1979
  • Final disposition, fate unknown - presumed scrapped
  • PGM-29 earned four battle stars and the Navy Occupation Service Medal for World War II service.
    Specifications:
  • Displacement 295 tons
  • Length 173' 8"
  • Beam 23'
  • Draft 10' 10" (max.)
  • Speed 20 knots
  • Complement 65
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount, one twin 40mm gun mount (twin 40s removed and replaced by Hedgehogs in 1963), six 20mm guns, one twin .50 cal. machine gun and one 60mm mortar
  • Propulsion: Two 1,440bhp General Motors 16-278A diesel engines, Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PC-1565
    PC-1565
    121102902    		 114k Launching at Leathem B. Smith, 16 July 1944. Historical Collections of the Great Lakes
    USS PGM-29
    PGM-29
    121102901    		 81k Underway, date and location unknown. Bob Daly/PC-1181
    PGM-29
    121102904    		 113k Underway, date and location unknown. Tommy Trampp
    PGM-29
    121102905    		 122k Underway, circa 1945
    From the collection of MSgt Norman Messenger, USAF, Ret. who served on board as a Quartermaster/Signalman    		 CDR Norman K. Messenger, SC, USN, Ret.
    PGM-29
    121102906    		 120k Ship's mascot "Lucy," circa 1945.
    From the collection of MSgt Norman Messenger, USAF, Ret. who served on board as a Quartermaster/Signalman
    Πλωταρχς  Χατζηκωνσταντής [Plotarchis Hatzikonstantis] (P 96)
    PGM-29
    121102907    		 35k

    Lt. Commander (Plotarchis) Michael Hatzikonstantis was born in Piraeus, 29 November 1906. Due to family tradition (his uncles were both Admirals), he wished to serve in the Navy and entered first in 1921 at the Naval Cadet School. He was sworn in as an officer on January 16, 1926. In 1928 he received the rank of lieutenant and in 1929 entered the Submarine School. In 1934 he was promoted to lieutenant and in 1938 to liuetenant commander. He served on various submarines such as Katsonis, Nereus, Glaukos, Tritonas and Proteus. At the outbreak of World War Two, he was commanding Proteus. On 29 December 1940, on thier third war patrol west of the island of Sassonos, the submarine spotted an Italian convoy with a strong escort heading for Avlona. Hatzikonstantis ordered an attack against the main body of the convoy and sank the gunboat Sardegna. Due to loss of depth during the attack, the submarine was visually located, rammed and attacked with depth charges by the Italian torpedo boat Antares. Proteus was sunk with all hands. On 19 January 1941, he was given the honorary rank of vice-captain, and was awarded the Golden Medal of Valor.
    1938 photo of Hatzikonstantis aboard a submarine via perialos.blogspot.com

    		 Chris Howell
    PGM-29
    121102903    		 373k Moored at Karpathos Island, Greece, 27 August 1978.
    Photo copyright Peter Davey    		 Chris Howell
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Neal Herbert Rumbaugh, D-V(S) USNR29 November 1944 - (1945)
    02LT William J. Joyce, D-V(G) USNR(October 1945) - ????
    02LT(JG) Norman C. Thomas, D-V(G) USNR(April 1946) - ????
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PGM-29
    View the PGM-29 stories Gunboat Rescue and "Operation Crossroads and the PGM-29"
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Type Index Back to the Submarine Chaser (PC) Photo Index Back to the Motor Gunboat(PGM) Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 09 June 2024