| RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) | |
|---|---|
| Career (South Vietnam) |  |
| Name: | RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) |
| Namesake: | Phạm Ngũ Lão, Trần Dynasty general |
| Builder: | Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, Washington |
| Laid down: | 23 July 1941 |
| Launched: | 8 March 1942 |
| Completed: | January 1943 |
| Acquired: | 15 July 1972 |
| Captured: | By North Vietnam May 1975 |
| Notes: |
Served as United States Navy aircraft catapult training ship USS Absecon 1943-1947 Served as U.S. Coast Guard cutter USS Absecon (WAVP-374), later WHEC-374, 1949-1972 Has served as Vietnamese People's Navy patrol vessel PRVSN Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-01) since 1975 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Tran Quang Khai-class frigate |
| Displacement: |
1,766 tons (standard) 2,800 tons (full load) |
| 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: |
1 × 5-inch/38-caliber (127-millimeter) dual-purpose gun 1 or 2 x 81-millimeter mortars in some ships[1] Several machine guns |
RVNS Pham Ngu Lao[2] (HQ-17) was a South Vietnamese frigate of the Republic of Vietnam Navy in commission from 1972 to 1975. She and her six sister ships were the largest South Vietnamese naval ships of their time.
History[]
[]
Pham Ngu Lao was laid down in the United States by Lake Washington Shipyard at Houghton, Washington, as the United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender USS Absecon (AVP-23), but was converted during construction into an aircraft catapult training ship. Commissioned in January 1943, she served in Florida waters, training battleship and cruiser floatplane pilots in catapult launches and serving as a mobile target for torpedo practice by U.S. Navy torpedo planes. She was decommissioned in March 1947 and placed in reserve.
United States Coast Guard service 1946-1972[]
In 1949, the U.S. Navy loaned Absecon to the United States Coast Guard, which commissioned her as the Casco-class Coast Guard cutter USCGC Absecon (WAVP-374). Until 1972, she operated primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean on ocean stations, and also conducted search-and-rescue and law-enforcement operations. In 1966 she was reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-374, and was transferred permanently to the Coast Guard.
[]
Acquisition and operations[]
After her antisubmarine warfare equipment had been removed, Absecon was transferred to South Vietnam on 15 July 1972 and was commissioned into the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15)[3] She was the last of seven former Casco-class cutters transferred to South Vietnam in 1971 and 1972. They were the largest warships in the South Vietnamese inventory, and their 5-inch (127-millimeter) guns were South Vietnam's largest naval guns. Pham Ngu Lao and her sisters fought alongside U.S. Navy ships during the final years of the Vietnam War, patrolling the South Vietnamese coast and providing gunfire support to South Vietnamese forces ashore.
Capture by North Vietnam[]
South Vietnam collapsed in late April 1975, bringing the Vietnam War to an end. Although all six of her sister ships fled to the Philippines, Pham Ngu Lao remained behind and was seized by North Vietnam in May 1975.
Socialist Republic of Vietnam service[]
North and South Vietnam unified to form the new Socialist Republic of Vietnam, and the ship was commissioned into the unified country's Vietnamese People's Navy as PRVSN Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-01). Her status in that secretive navy is murky, but she is believed to have remained active into the 1990s and perhaps until as recently as 2000.[4] She is now believed almost certainly to be decommissioned, although her current status is unknown.[5]
Notes[]
- ↑ Sources do not specify which ships of the class mounted mortars or how many they mounted; see Jane's Fighting Ship 1973-1974, p. 592.
- ↑ Other spellings encountered include Tham Ngu Lao.
- ↑ Per Janes's Fighting Ships 1973-1974, p. 592, "HQ" is an abbreviation for "Hai Quan", Vietnamese for "Navy", used for all Republic of Vietnam Navy ships.
- ↑ Jane's Fighting Ships 1980-81, p. 715; Jane's Fighting Ships 1994-95, p. 852; Jane's Fighting Ships 2004-05, p. 908.
- ↑ Jane's Fighting Ships 2004-05, p. 908; Jane's Fighting Ships 2008-09, p. 967
References[]
- NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive: AVP-23 Absecon WAVP-374 / WHEC-374 Absecon
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships: USS Absecon (AVP-23), 1943-1949
- The Inventory of VNN's Battle Ships Part 2
- Gray, Randal, Ed. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982 Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1983. ISBN 0-87021-919-7.
- Moore, John, Captain, RN, FRGS, Ed. Jane's Fighting Ships 1973-1974. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 1973. No ISBN number.
- Moore, John, Captain, RN, Ed. Jane's Fighting Ships 1980-1981. New York: Jane's Publishing Inc., 1980. ISBN 0-531-03937-4.
- Sharpe, Richard, Captain, RN, Ed. Jane's Fighting Ships, 97th Edition, 1994-1995. Alexandria, Virginia: Jane's Information Group, 1994. ISBN 0-7106-1161-7.
- Saunders, Stephen, Commodore, RN, Ed. Jane's Fighting Ships, 107th Edition, 2004-2005. Alexandria, Virginia: Jane's Information Group, 2004. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.
- Saunders, Stephen, Commodore, RN, Ed. Jane's Fighting Ships, 111th Edition, 2008-2009. Alexandria, Virginia: Jane's Information Group, 2004. ISBN 978-0-7106-2845-9.
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The original article can be found at RVNS Pham Ngu Lao (HQ-15) and the edit history here.