USS Erie (PG-50)

USS Erie in 1940
History
United States
Name	Erie
Namesake	City of Erie, Pennsylvania
Ordered	1 November 1933
Builder	New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York
Cost	$6,047,216
Way number	Dry Dock #1
Laid down	17 December 1934
Launched	29 February 1936
Sponsored by	Mrs. Edmund A. Knoll
Commissioned	1 July 1936
Stricken	28 July 1943
Identification	Hull symbol: PG-50
Honors and awards	1 Battle Stars American Defense Service Medal with "FLEET" clasp American Campaign Medal World War II Victory Medal
Fate	Torpedoed and beached, 12 November 1942 Capsized during attempted salvage, 5 December 1942
General characteristics [1][2][3]
Class and type	Erie-class gunboat
Displacement	2,000 long tons (2,032 t) (standard) 2,830 long tons (2,875 t) (full load)
Length	328 ft 6 in (100.13 m) o.a. 308 ft (94 m) p.p.
Beam	41 ft 3 in (12.57 m)
Draft	14 ft 10 in (4.52 m) (full load)
Installed power	2 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 6,200 shp (4,600 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Parsons geared single reduction steam turbines 2 × shafts
Speed	20 kn (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	213
Sensors and processing systems	Mark 3 Fire-control radar (mounted atop battery director) ASDIC Sonar
Armament	4 × 6-inch (152 mm)/47 caliber Mark 17 guns 2 × 3-pounder (47 mm (1.9 in)/47 cal) gun single mount saluting guns 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) Browning Machine Gun, Cal..50, M2, HB, single anti-aircraft (AA) guns (replaced with 1.1"/75s) 4 × 1.1 in (28 mm)/75 caliber, quadruple anti-aircraft guns 2 × Mark 6 Depth charge racks (each holding 15 depth charges)
Armor	Side belt (over vital places): 3.5 in (89 mm) Deck: 1.25 in (32 mm) Conning tower: 4 in (100 mm) Gunshields: 1 in (25 mm)
Aircraft carried	1 × floatplane "Seagull" 1 × floatplane "Kingfisher" (replaced "Seagull")
Aviation facilities	Derrick

USS Erie (PG-50) was the lead ship of the Erie-class gunboats of the United States Navy. Erie was the second US Navy ship to bear the name. The first, Erie, was named after Lake Erie, while this Erie followed the US Navy naming practices of gunboats, like cruisers, being named after US cities, with this Erie being named after Erie, Pennsylvania.

Erie protected US interests during the Spanish Civil War, operated as a training ship for the United States Naval Academy, and was a convoy escort ship during World War II. She operated in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Caribbean Sea until torpedoed and fatally damaged by U-163, off Curaçao, in 1942.