USS Gladwyne (PF-62), a Tacoma-class frigate, was the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Gladwyne, Pennsylvania. Originally named Worcester after Worcester, Massachusetts, the name was changed in order to give it to new light cruiser USS Worcester (CL-144) then under construction.

History
United States
NameWorcester
NamesakeCity of Worcester, Massachusetts
ReclassifiedPF-62, 15 April 1943
BuilderGlobe Shipbuilding Company, Superior, Wisconsin
Yard number116
Laid down14 October 1943
Launched7 January 1944
Sponsored byMrs. Phyllis M. Bennett
RenamedGladwyne
NamesakeCity of Gladwyne, Pennsylvania
Commissioned21 November 1944
Decommissioned15 April 1946
Stricken8 October 1946
FateTransferred to Mexican Navy, 24 November 1947
Mexico
NamePapaloapan
NamesakePapaloapan River
Acquired24 November 1947
FateScrapped, 1965
General characteristics
Class and typeTacoma-class frigate
Displacement
  • 1,430 long tons (1,453 t) light
  • 2,415 long tons (2,454 t) full
Length303 ft 11 in (92.63 m)
Beam37 ft 6 in (11.43 m)
Draft13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 5,500 shp (4,101 kW) turbines
  • 3 boilers
  • 2 shafts
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement190
Armament

Construction

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Gladwyne (PF-62), was launched on 7 January 1944, at the Globe Shipbuilding Company in Superior, Wisconsin, sponsored by Mrs. Phyllis M. Bennett; and commissioned on 21 November 1944.

Service history

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After shakedown, Gladwyne sailed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 21 January 1945, for Casco Bay, Maine, arriving there two days later. Following training exercises there, she made two round trip trans-Atlantic convoy escort voyages to Oran, Algeria, one each from New York and Norfolk, Virginia, from 6 February through 14 May 1945, returning to Boston, Massachusetts, each time. Refresher training at Casco Bay occupied June, and on 31 July, Gladwyne sailed from Boston via Panama to the Pacific.

On 29 August, Gladwyne and Moberly (PF-63) sailed for the Marshall Islands to begin weather station and plane guard patrols. The frigates reached Majuro on 5 September, and during the next months they alternated on patrolling their assigned area out of Majuro and later out of Kwajalein. Gladwyne then sailed to Pearl Harbor putting in there on 27 December 1945. Underway again on 23 February 1946, Gladwyne returned to Majuro and patrolled on weather station until mooring at San Francisco, California, on 9 April.

Decommissioned there on 15 April 1946, she was stricken from the Navy List on 8 October 1946 and sold to the Mexican Government on 24 November 1947. She served Mexico as ARM Papaloapan until disposed of in 1965.

References

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

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