View source for USS Bangor (PF-16)

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=
|Ship caption= 
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{{Infobox Ship Career
|Ship country={{nowrap|United States}}
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=USS ''Bangor'' (PG-124)
|Ship namesake=[[Bangor, Maine]]
|Ship reclassified=PF-16, 15 April 1943
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship builder=[[American Ship Building Company]], [[Lorain, Ohio]]
|Ship yard number=843
|Ship laid down= 20 May 1943 
|Ship launched= 6 November 1943 
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Ruth R. Hutchins
|Ship commissioned= 22 November 1944 
|Ship decommissioned= 15 April 1946  
|Ship struck= 23 April 1947 
|Ship fate= Transferred to [[Mexican Navy]], 24 November 1947
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Ship country=Mexico
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Mexico|naval}}
|Ship name=ARM ''General José María Morelos''
|Ship namesake= [[José María Morelos]]
|Ship acquired= 24 November 1947
|Ship renamed=ARM ''Golfo de Tehuantepec''
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship namesake[[Gulf of Tehuantepec]]
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship struck=
|Ship fate=scrapped, 1964
}}
{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
|Ship class= {{sclass|Tacoma|frigate|1}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|1430|LT|t|0|lk=on|abbr=on}} light<br />{{convert|2415|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|303|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|13|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship propulsion=2 × {{convert|5500|shp|0|abbr=on}} turbines<br />3 boilers<br />2 shafts
|Ship speed= {{convert|20|kn|lk=on}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=190
|Ship armament=• 3 × [[3"/50 caliber gun]]s (3×1)<br />• 4 × 40 mm guns (2×2)<br />• 9 × 20 mm guns (9×1)<br />• 1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] [[anti-submarine mortar]]<br />• 8 × Y-gun [[depth charge]] projectors<br />• 2 × depth charge tracks
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Bangor'' (PF-16)''', a {{sclass|Tacoma|frigate}}, is the only ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Bangor, Maine]].

''Bangor'' (PF-16) was laid down on 20 May 1943 at [[Lorain, Ohio]], by the American Shipbuilding Co. under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract (MC hull 1482); launched on 6 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Ruth R. Hutchins; delivered to the Navy at [[New Orleans]], La., on 25 August 1944; fitted out at New Orleans; and placed in commission there on 22 November 1944, [[Lieutenant Commander]] Fred J. Statts, USCG, in command.

==Service history==
The new frigate reported for shakedown training off [[Bermuda]] on 3 December and, after four weeks of intensive drills, set a course for the [[Norfolk Navy Yard]] for post shakedown repairs. On 21 January 1945, ''Bangor'' joined Task Force (TF) 67 on convoy duty and, two days later, took station in the antisubmarine screen of a large [[convoy]] bound for northern Africa. The transatlantic voyage was routine and the ships anchored off [[Oran, Algeria]], on 8 February.

''Bangor'' returned to the United States with another convoy. A German [[U-boat]] attacked the Allied ships two days out of Oran. ''Bangor'' joined the other escorts in a coordinated depth charge attack, but without success. The frigate made one more round trip, transatlantic voyage without incident before undergoing repairs at Bayonne, N.J. She resumed her escort duties on 22 April and joined an Oran bound convoy out of New York. ''Bangor'' anchored at [[Mers el Kebir]] on 9 May and there received the news that Germany had surrendered. The frigate got underway on 17 May with another returning convoy for onward routing to the Pacific.

''Bangor'' completed repairs at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]] early in June and then headed for the [[Panama Canal Zone]], where she arrived on 21 June. For the next month, the frigate conducted training exercises with submarines off the [[Perlas Islands]] in [[Panama Bay]]. In mid July, ''Bangor'' set course for [[San Pedro, California]], to prepare for duty in the western Pacific, but the war ended while the frigate was in drydock at [[Seattle, Washington]].

After her repairs were completed in September, ''Bangor'' cruised the waters off Alaska with her sister ship {{USS|Annapolis|PF-15|3}} before reporting to [[Bremerton, Washington]], to serve as a rescue and weather ship for the Coast Guard. On 15 April 1946, ''Bangor'' was decommissioned by the Navy and recommissioned by the Coast Guard as one of 18 frigates used for weather reporting. ''Bangor'' rotated with other ships on weather station east of the Hawaiian Islands. Generally remaining at sea for six weeks at a time, the frigate also provided navigational information to any aircraft or surface vessel requiring assistance and assumed search and rescue duties for vessels in distress.

As 1946 passed, small [[seaplane tender]]s (AVP) replaced the frigates; ''Bangor'' was decommissioned by the Coast Guard on 16 August and returned to the Navy. ''Bangor'' was declared excess to the Navy's needs, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 23 April 1947. She was sold to [[Mexico]] on 24 November 1947, and renamed ARM ''General José María Morelos''. Later renamed ''Golfo de Tehuantepec'', the ship was scrapped in 1964.

== References ==
{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2/bangor-i.htm}}

== External links == 
* {{navsource|12/08016|USS Bangor}}
*[http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/patrol/pf16.htm  hazegray.org: USS ''Bangor'']

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{{Tacoma class frigate|others}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangor (PF-16)}}
[[Category:Tacoma class frigates]]
[[Category:Ships built in Ohio]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States]]
[[Category:United States Navy Maine-related ships]]
[[Category:Tacoma class frigates of the Mexican Navy]]
[[Category:United States Navy ships transferred to the United States Coast Guard]]

[[Category:2Fix]]