USS Sheboygan

USS Sheboygan (PF-57) was a Tacoma-class frigate of the United States Navy which was later transferred to the Belgian Navy as Lieutenant ter zee Victor Billet.

USS Sheboygan
Luitenant ter zee Victor Billet

Luitenant ter zee Victor Billet in Belgian service
History
United States
Name	Sheboygan
Namesake	City of Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Builder	Globe Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin
Laid down	17 April 1943
Launched	31 July 1943
Commissioned	26 May 1944
Decommissioned	1 June 1944
Recommissioned	14 October 1944
Decommissioned	9 August 1946
Identification	PF-57
Fate	Sold to Belgium, 19 March 1947
Belgium
Name	Luitenant ter zee Victor Billet
Acquired	19 March 1947
Stricken	1957
Identification	F 910
Fate	Converted to training hulk, 1958 Scrapped, 1959
General characteristics
Class and type	Tacoma-class frigate
Displacement	1,264 long tons (1,284 t)
Length	303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam	37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft	13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion	2 × 5,500 shp (4,101 kW) turbines 3 boilers 2 shafts
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	190
Armament	3 × 3"/50 dual purpose guns (3x1) 4 x 40 mm guns (2×2) 9 × 20 mm guns (9×1) 1 × Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar 8 × Y-gun depth charge projectors 2 × Depth charge tracks

Construction

Sheboygan was laid down on 17 April 1943, under a Maritime Commission contract by the Globe Shipbuilding Company at Superior, Wisconsin; sponsored by Mrs. Willard M. Sonnenburg; and placed in reduced commission at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 26 May 1944, with Lieutenant Commander A. J. Carpenter, USCG, in command. It is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Service history

Ordered to Tampa, Florida, for conversion to a weather patrol ship, Sheboygan was decommissioned on 1 June. On 14 October 1944, she was recommissioned. Shakedown in Bermuda followed; and on 21 February, the frigate arrived at NS Argentia, Newfoundland, for weather patrol duty.

As a Navy ship, she performed weather and plane guard patrols in the North Atlantic, broken by periods of upkeep in Naval Station Argentia, and Boston, Massachusetts, until transferred to the United States Coast Guard on 14 March 1946. Her work in the North Atlantic, however, continued until she was decommissioned on 9 August 1946.

She was sold on 19 March 1947 to Belgium and served in the Belgian Navy as Luitenant ter zee Victor Billet until converted to a stationary training hulk in 1958, and was scrapped in 1959.

References

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Sheboygan at NavSource Naval History
• hazegray.org: USS Sheboygan