USS Absecon (AVP-23) off Houghton, Washington on 17 January 1943, six days before commissioning, with a Curtiss SO3C Seamew floatplane on her catapult
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History | |
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United States Navy | |
Name: | USS Absecon (AVP-23) |
Namesake: | Absecon Inlet in New Jersey |
Builder: | Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, Washington, |
Laid down: | 23 July 1941 |
Launched: | 8 March 1942 |
Sponsored by: | Mrs. Robert L. Moon, Jr. |
Commissioned: | 23 January 1943 |
Decommissioned: | 19 March 1947 |
Fate: |
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Acquired: | Transferred from U.S. Coast Guard 9 May 1972 |
Fate: | Transferred to South Vietnam 15 June 1972 |
United States Coast Guard | |
Name: | USCGC Absecon (WAVP-374) |
Namesake: | Previous name retained |
Acquired: |
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Commissioned: | May 1949 |
Reclassified: | High endurance cutter (WHEC-374) 1 May 1966 |
Decommissioned: | 9 May 1972 |
Fate: | Transferred to U.S. Navy 9 May 1972 |
South Vietnam | |
Name: | RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) |
Namesake: | Phạm Ngũ Lão, 13th-century Trần Dynasty general |
Acquired: | 15 July 1972 |
Commissioned: | 1972 |
Captured: | By North Vietnam May 1975 |
Vietnam | |
Name: | PRVSN Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-01) |
Namesake: | Previous name retained |
Acquired: | May 1975 |
Status: | Unknown; active into 1990s and perhaps until at least 2000; later inactive and probably decommissioned |
General characteristics (catapult training ship) | |
Class and type: | Barnegat-class catapult training ship |
Displacement: | 1,766 long tons (1,794 t) (light); 2,750 long tons (2,790 t) (full load) |
Length: | 310 ft 9 in (94.72 m) |
Beam: | 41 ft 1 in (12.52 m) |
Draft: | 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m) |
Installed power: | 6,000 horsepower (4.48 megawatts) |
Propulsion: | Diesel engines, two shafts |
Speed: | 18.6 knots (34.4 km/h) |
Complement: |
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Sensors and processing systems: |
Radar; sonar |
Armament: |
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Aircraft carried: | Up to 3 floatplanes |
Aviation facilities: | One catapult and aircraft handling cranes |
Notes: | Converted during construction into a catapult training ship |
General characteristics (Coast Guard cutter) | |
Class and type: | Casco-class cutter |
Displacement: | 2,610 tons (full load) in 1970 |
Length: | 311 ft 7 in (94.97 m) overall; 299 ft 11 in (91.41 m) between perpendiculars |
Beam: | 41 ft 0.75 in (12.5159 m) maximum |
Draft: | 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) maximum in 1964 |
Installed power: | 6,080 bhp (4,530 kW) |
Propulsion: | Fairbanks-Morse geared diesel engines, two shafts; 166,430 US gallons (630,000 L) of fuel |
Speed: |
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Range: |
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Complement: | 151 (10 officers, 3 warrant officers, 138 enlisted personnel) in 1964 |
Sensors and processing systems: |
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Armament: |
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General characteristics (South Vietnamese frigate) | |
Class and type: | Tran Quang Khai-class frigate |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 310 ft 9 in (94.72 m) (overall); 300 ft 0 in (91.44 m) waterline |
Beam: | 41 ft 1 in (12.52 m) |
Draft: | 13 ft 5 in (4.09 m) |
Installed power: | 6,080 horsepower (4.54 megawatts) |
Propulsion: | 2 x Fairbanks Morse 38D diesel engines |
Speed: | approximately 18 knots (maximum) |
Complement: | approximately 200 |
Armament: |
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General characteristics (Vietnamese People's Navy) | |
Type: | Patrol vessel |
Displacement: |
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Length: | 310 ft 8 in (94.69 m) |
Beam: | 41 ft 1 in (12.52 m) |
Draft: | 13 ft 5 in (4.09 m) |
Installed power: |
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Propulsion: | 2 x Fairbanks-Morse 38D8-1/8-10 diesel engines, 2 shafts |
Speed: | approximately 18 knots (maximum) |
Range: | 20,000 nautical miles (37,040 kilometers) at 12 knots |
Complement: | approximately 200 |
Sensors and processing systems: |
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Armament: |
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The second USS Absecon (AVP-23) was a United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender in commission from 1943 to 1947, converted during construction to serve as a catapult training ship during World War II. The ship was in commission in the United States Coast Guard as the cutter USCGC Absecon (WAVP-374), later WHEC-374, from 1949 to 1972. Transferred to South Vietnam in 1972, she served in the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) until she was captured by North Vietnam at the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975. After that, she served in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam's Vietnamese People's Navy as PRVSN Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-01).
Absecon was laid down on 23 July 1941 at Houghton, Washington, by Lake Washington Shipyard. She was launched on 8 March 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Robert L. Moon, Jr., the daughter of Captain G. E. Davis — who was then the chief of staff to the Commandant of the 13th Naval District — and the wife of Commander Robert L. Moon, Jr.. Absecon was unique among the Barnegat-class ships in that she was the only one fitted with an aircraft catapult and cranes for handling floatplanes. Her redesign from the standard seaplane tender configuration resulted from the U.S. Navy's need for pilots to gain experience needed to qualify for catapult operations in battleship- and cruiser-based floatplane aviation units. Absecon was converted to this configuration during construction. She commissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bermerton, Washington, on 28 January 1943 with Commander Robert S. Purvis in command, and completed her fitting out period on 14 February 1943