BRP Francisco Dagohoy (PF-10)

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For the Filipino revolutionary, see Francisco Dagohoy.
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Name: BRP Francisco Dagohoy (PF-10)
Namesake: Filipino revolutionary Francisco Dagohoy (fl. 1700s)
Builder: Lake Washington Shipyard, Houghton, Washington
Laid down: 12 July 1943
Launched: 11 March 1944
Completed: October 1944
Commissioned: 23 June 1979[1]
Decommissioned: June 1985
Fate: Discarded March 1993; probably scrapped
Notes: Served as United States Navy seaplane tender USS Castle Rock (AVP-35) 1944-1946
Served as U.S. Coast Guard cutter USCGC Castle Rock (WAVP-383), later WHEC-383, 1948-1971
Served as South Vietnamese as patrol vessel RVNS Tran Binh Trong (HQ-05) 1971-1975
General characteristics
Class and type: Andres Bonifacio class
Type: Frigate
Displacement: 1,766 tons standard, 2,800 tons full load
Length: 311.65 ft (94.99 m)
Beam: 41.18 ft (12.55 m)
Draft: 13.66 ft (4.16 m)
Installed power: 6,200 brake horsepower (4.63 megawatts)
Propulsion: 2 x Fairbanks Morse 38D diesel engines
Speed: 18.2 knots (maximum)
Range: 8,000 nautical miles (14,816 kilometers) at 15.6 knots
Complement: About 200
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • AN/SPS-53 Surface Search Radar
  • AN/SPS-23 Navigation/Search Radar
  • Mk26 Mod1 Fire Control System[2]
Armament:
  • 1 × 5-inch/38-caliber (127-millimeter) dual-purpose gun
  • 2 × Mk1 Twin Bofors 40 mm gun
  • 2 x Single Bofors 40 mm gun
  • 4 × Twin Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
  • 4 x M2 Browning .50-caliber (12.7-mm) general-purpose machine guns
    • Aircraft carried: None permanently assigned; helipad could accommodate one MBB Bo 105 Helicopter
    Aviation facilities: Helipad; no support facilities aboard

    The BRP Francisco Dagohoy (PF-10)[3] on 5 April 1976. She was decommissioned in June 1985,[4] was a frigate of the Philippine Navy that served from 1979 to 1985. She was one of six ex-United States Navy Barnegat-class small seaplane tenders and ex-United States Coast Guard Casco-class high endurance cutters received from the United States after the Vietnam War, two of which were cannibalized for spare parts without entering service. She her other three sister ships were the largest Philippine Navy ships of their time.

    History

    Construction and United States Navy service 1944-1946

    Main article: USS Castle Rock (AVP-35)

    Francisco Dagohoy was built in the United States by Lake Washington Shipyard at Houghton, Washington, as the United States Navy Barnegat-class seaplane tender USS Castle Rock (AVP-35). Commissioned in October 1944, Castle Rock served in the Central Pacific during and after World War II. She was decommissioned in June 1946 and placed in reserve.

    United States Coast Guard service 1949-1971

    Main article: USCGC Castle Rock (WAVP-383)

    In 1948, the U.S. Navy loaned Castle Rock to the United States Coast Guard, which commissioned her that year as the cutter USCGC Castle Rock (WAVP-383). She was later reclassified as a high endurance cutter and redesignated WHEC-383. While in Coast Guard service, her primary duty was to patrol ocean stations, reporting weather data and engaging in search-and-rescue and law-enforcement operations. She also performed combat duty in the Vietnam War for a few months in 1971.

    Republic of Vietnam Navy service 1971-1975

    Main article: RVNS Tran Binh Trong (HQ-05)

    Castle Rock was transferred to South Vietnam on 21 December 1971 and was commissioned into the Republic of Vietnam Navy as the frigate RVNS Tran Binh Trong (HQ-05). She fought in the Battle of the Paracel Islands in 1974.

    When South Vietnam collapsed at the end of the Vietnam War in late April 1975, Tran Binh Trong fled to Subic Bay in the Philippines, packed with South Vietnamese refugees. On 22 May 1975 and 23 May 1975, a U.S. Coast Guard team inspected Tran Binh Trong and five of her sister ships, which also had fled to the Philippines in April 1975. One of the inspectors noted: "These vessels brought in several hundred refugees and are generally rat-infested. They are in a filthy, deplorable condition. Below decks generally would compare with a garbage scow."[5]

    Acquisition by the Philippines

    After Tran Binh Trong had been cleaned and repaired, the United States formally transferred her to the Republic of the Philippines on 5 April 1976. She was commissioned into the Philippine Navy as frigate RPS, later BRP, Francisco Dagohoy. She served in the Philippine Navy until she was decommissioned in June 1985.[6]

    Technical details

    The single Mark 12 5-inch/38-caliber (127-millimeter) guns was Francisco Dagohoy's primary weapon. It was mounted in a Mark 30 Mod 0 enclosed base ring and had a range of up to 18,200 yards (16,600 m) yards. The gun was a dual-purpose type, capable of both antisurface and antiair warfare. She also carried two twin Mark 1 Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, four Markk 4 single 20 mm Oerlikon cannons, and four .50-caliber (12.7-mm) general-purpose machine guns.[7]

    Hatch and Kirk, Inc. added a helicopter deck aft in 1979.[8] Although the ship had no capability to house or service visiting helicopters, the helicopter deck could accommodate one MBB Bo 105C helicopter, used by the Philippine Navy for utility, scout, and maritime patrol purposes.

    Francico Dagohoy was powered by two Fairbanks-Morse 38D diesel engines with a combined power of around 6,200 brake horsepower (4.63 megawatts), driving two propellers. The main engines could propel the 1,766-displacement-ton (standard load) ship at a maximum speed of around 18 knots (33 km/h). She had a maximum range of 8,000 nautical miles (14,820 km) at an economical speed of 15.6 knots (29 km/h).[7]

    The Philippine Navy made plans to upgrade the entire ship class with new radar systems and the BGM-84 Harpoon long-range anti-ship cruise missile, but this did not materialize due to the worsening political and economic crisis in the Philippines in the mid-1980s.[9]

    Philippine Navy service

    Francisco Dagohoy was commissiond on 23 June 1979,[1] three years later than her three sister ships. She was decommissioned in June 1985, and some of her usable parts were used to maintain her sister ship BRP Andres Bonifacio (PF-7).[citation needed]

    Francisco Dagohoy was discarded in March 1993 and probably scrapped.

    References

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    External links

    Andres Bonifacio · Diego Silang · Francisco Dagohoy · Gregorio del Pilar

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jane's Fighting Ships 1980-81, p. 370.
    2. ↑ Jane's Fighting Ships 1982-1983
    3. ↑ This article assumes that the authoritative Jane's Fighting Ships 1980-1981, p. 370, is correct about Francisco Dagohoy's lineage (i.e., that she was the former USS Castle Rock (AVP-35), USCGC Castle Rock (WAVP-383/WHEC-383), and RVNS Tran Binh Trong (HQ-05)). The United States Coast Guard Historian's Office (see http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/CastleRock1948.asp) and Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982 Part II: The Warsaw Pact and Non-Aligned Nations, p. 356, agree with Jane's that Francisco Dagohoy was the former Castle Rock and Tran Binh Trong. However, extensive confusion exists on on the Web. NavSource.org in its entry for Castle Rock (see http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/43/4335.htm) also agrees with Jane's that Tran Binh Trong (HQ-05) became Francisco Dagohoy but in its entry for USS Chincoteague (AVP-24) and USCGC Chincoteague (WAVP-375/WHEC-375) (see http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/43/4324.htm) also states that it was Chincoteague that became Tran Binh Trong and Francisco Dagohoy. Meanwhile, the Inventory of VNN's Battle Ships Part 1 (see Part 1 at http://www.vnafmamn.com/VNNavy_inventory.html) claims that Tran Binh Trong was the former Chincoteague and became yet another Philippine Navy ship, Andres Bonifacio (PR-7), and in its Part 2 (see Part 2 at http://www.vnafmamn.com/VNNavy_inventory2.html) says that Castle Rock became an entirely different South Vietnamese ship, RVNS Ngo Kuyen (HQ-17), before becoming Francisco Dagohoy. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships entries for Castle Rock (see http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c4/castle_rock.htm) and Chincoteague (see http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/c8/chincoteague.htm) apparently were written before the ships were transferred to South Vietnam or the Philippines and have not been updated, and therefore make no mention at all of their South Vietnamese or Philippine Navy service.
    4. ↑ Per NavSource Online at http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/43/4335.htm.
    5. ↑ This quote, from the U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office at http://www.uscg.mil/history/webcutters/McCulloch_1946.pdf, is unattributed.
    6. ↑ NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive. USS Castle Rock (AVP-35).
    7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 DLSU N-ROTC Office. Naming and Code Designation of PN Vessels.
    8. ↑ Philippine Naval Forces News Bulletin Naval News Bulletin # 1.
    9. ↑ Harpoon Database Encyclopedia AVP-10 Barnegat class
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