USS Erie (PG-50) was the lead ship of the s of the United States Navy. Erie was the second US Navy ship to bear the name. The first, , 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 , off Curaçao, in 1942.
Construction and commissioning Erie was ordered in June 1933, and laid down at the New York Naval Shipyard on 17 December 1934. Erie was the first ship to be built in the Yard's No. 1 dry dock, instead of on a slip. For the first time at a New York Navy Yard keel-laying ceremony, the first rivets for Eries keel were driven in by civilian employees rather than ranking Navy officers.
Within six months, by June 1935, most of the work for the hull, main deck, second deck, and platform structure had been completed. After Commander (later Vice Admiral) Edward Hanson graduated, in May 1935, from the Naval War College, he was ordered to see the fitting-out of Erie and to captain her upon commissioning. The next seven months, June 1935 to mid-January 1936, saw significant progress in the assembly of the main deck components, the navigational bridge, the pilothouse, and the chart house. By January 1936, 80% of the hull work was complete with about 50% of the equipment and machinery installed.
Erie was launched on 29 February 1936. The Erie Club of New York planned and conducted the launching ceremony with a delegation of notables from Erie, attending, along with Eries sponsor, Mrs. Edmund (Ida) Knoll.
With Erie only 98% complete, and her six-inch guns not yet installed, the commissioning ceremony was on 1 July 1936. Commander Hanson signed the formal receipt for the gunboat and read the orders that assigned him command of the ship.
The Yard managers reported on 1 August 1936, that the hull was 98.8% complete and the machinery spaces were 95.1% complete with an expected end of construction date set for 15 August. Erie left on 17 August, and sailed into the Atlantic for the first day at sea. During Eries initial sea trials her propulsion system did suffer some malfunctions, but overall the trials were generally satisfactory. After a few repairs Erie ran her formal power trials on 26 August, and with further tests and trials performed at sea and in port, the vessel wase fitted out and prepared for a shakedown cruise to Europe. Eries six-inch guns and their blast shields were mounted by the first week of October, and on 19 October, she departed for a cruise to the Norfolk Naval Operating Base.
Erie was directed to participate in two ceremonies in late October. The first was Navy Day festivities in New York Harbor, from 25 to 27 October. Erie, the heavy cruisers and , and the destroyers and held open houses for the general public, while docked in the Yard. The second was on 28 October, for a fiftieth anniversary ceremony commemorating the dedication of the Statue of Liberty. Indianapolis and Erie greeted President Franklin D. Roosevelt with twenty-one gun salutes as he approached Bedloe's Island and as he departed. Erie then returned to the Yard to make final preparations for her departure on 31 October, for her shakedown cruise.
Design and armament
Erie was long at the waterline with an overall length of , her beam was and a mean draft of . Her standard displacement was and at full load. Her crew during peacetime consisted of 213 officers and enlisted men.
Erie was powered by two Parsons geared single reduction steam turbines, each driving one screw, using steam generated by two Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The engines were designed to produce and reach a top speed of . She was designed to provide a range of at a speed of .
Eries main armament were four /47 caliber guns, two mounted forward and two mounted aft. She had two 3-pounder ()/47 cal. saluting guns, and four Browning machine guns, though only temporary, while waiting for the /75 cal. guns to be produced. She was also armed with Mark 6 Depth charge racks (each holding 15 depth charges).
The ship lacked a full-length waterline armor belt, vital areas were protected by of armor. The conning tower was protected by of armor, and the deck had of armor. The gunshields were only thick.
Erie carried one floatplane aboard that was stored just aft of the smokestack on a raised deck. Initially this was a Curtiss SOC Seagull which was later replaced with a Vought OS2U Kingfisher. The planes required being hoisted into and out of the water by means of a derrick when used.
Accommodations s were designed and built as flagships and a floating diplomatic embassy. Some of the additions to help with these missions were a large admirals cabin located aft on the main deck behind the captain's cabin and two guests' cabins on the second deck. Eries also had large uncluttered fantails that could be covered with a canvas awning for hosting diplomatic envoys as could the aircraft deck. A large movie projector room was located in the aft superstructure and with a portable screen set up on the aft fantail and portable chairs set up on the afterdeck the crew or diplomats could watch movies. The ships boasted bands, made up of crew members, and they had Marine detachments for diplomatic duties.
Service history
Inter-war period
Spanish Civil War and shakedown cruise Sailing from New York on 31 October 1936, Erie spent November and December 1936, on a shakedown cruise and in temporary duty with Squadron 40-T, protecting US interests and citizens during the Spanish Civil War.
On 26 November, Eries Commander reported for formal duty with Squadron 40-T. On 5 December, Erie received orders to call on a number of ports along Spain's northern coast to check on US citizens and other foreign nationals with orders to evacuate them, if need be. Erie had three United States consular officials sailing with her, including the consul and vice consul of the US Consulate in Bilbao, and Walter C. Thurston, counselor for the United States embassy in Madrid. These men were tasked with authorizing travel documents of US citizens or any other nationals that were requesting evacuation from Spain. With this they converted Erie into a floating consulate, one of the duties for which the ship had been built. Erie dropped anchor in Bilbao, Spain, on 13 December, joining . While in Bilbao, Erie flew ensigns, illuminated at night, on both of her masts. Negotiations between British, Basque, and US government officials were also held while in port, that led to the release of $400,000 in certificated securities owned by a United States utility company. The 5,000 certificates, weighing , were conveyed to Erie for transport back to New York City.
España incident Leaving Bilbao on 15 December, Erie set sail for Santander and Gijón, to check on US nationals living in these two towns. The ship arrived in Port El Musel, Gijón, around 08:00 on 17 December, and began to prepare a shore party for bringing back aboard any persons seeking evacuation. Around 08:30 a naval bombardment was launched by the rebel Spanish battleship España, her twelve-inch guns lofting three rounds into the harbor, with one landing within of Erie. General Quarters was called with preparations made to evade Españas gun fire, but no return fire from Erie was ordered, and España almost immediately steamed away in the direction of the Bay of Biscay.
Newspapers back in the United States declared the incident as an attack on Erie, with some going as far as saying that seven rounds had been fired at her, with one landing as close as . However, it appears, and Commander Hanson agreed, that the battleship's actions were merely part of an ongoing operation against loyalist forces that controlled Gijón. When Commander Hanson radioed his initial report to Washington he stated that Erie was not hit and that there was no basis to conclude that Españas target was Erie. Because of his report the US State Department decided to deem the incident inadvertent and that no retaliation was required by the US Government.
Eries executive officer, Lt. Commander Herman P. Knickerbocker, made the only detailed public statement, shortly after returning to the US. The statement was published in The New York Times on 3 January 1937:
Evacuation of refugees and return to the US Beginning on 18 December, Erie retraced its route across the northern coast of Spain to San Juan de Luz, landing eight Filipino, Puerto Rican, and Polish evacuees, along with the consular officials.
Erie was then dispatched from Squadron 40-T, with orders to immediately return to the United States. After sailing through heavy seas for the Azores, Erie reached Ponta Delgada, on 22 December, and set course the next day for the New York Navy Yards. Erie was severely battered by high seas and gale-force winds of the Atlantic on the return crossing, leaving several hull plates damaged. Erie arrived and moored up at the New York Navy Yard on the morning of 30 December, having completed the two-month shakedown cruise.
It was concluded that all the ship's systems and power plant had performed well during the shakedown, though cruising speed had been kept well below the maximum speed of . The raked clipper bow had done well in keeping green water off the forward six-inch gun turret, even in the very rough sea conditions that had been encountered. In addition to damage to the hull plates, there were issues with Eries radio direction finder which were dealt with in early 1937, as Erie prepared for standardization trials.
Training service at Annapolis The ship was then assigned duties at the Naval Academy in Annapolis. Erie would be the lead vessel for the Coastal Cruising Detachment taking members of the Academy's second (junior) class on cruises to North Atlantic ports throughout the summer. From 7 May to 25 October 1937, Erie trained midshipmen, operating out of the Naval Academy, on afternoon training cruises during academic months then on an east coast cruise during June, July, and August.
On 11 May, while returning from a drill, Erie rammed the Santee dock while being berthed. The crash put a foot-deep indentation in her clipper bow that would necessitate repair before she could leave on a June cruise with the Coastal Cruising Detachment.
To celebrate the friendship visit of Commodore Matthew Perry to Japan in 1853, the Naval Academy hosted Japanese officials at a colorful re-enactment pageant on the Severn River and the Dewey Basin on 29 May. Erie, along with the destroyers and , illuminated the festivities with their searchlights. They, and a number of sub chasers and small patrol boats, also paraded around the basin after a fireworks display that was viewed by 10,000 spectators.
Panama Canal service
On 24 January 1938, with an overhaul finished, Erie got underway for the homeport of SPERON, Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone, with a first stop at the Naval Operating Base at Norfolk to turn in aviation equipment and spares, and to take ammunition aboard. The ship set sail for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 26 January, and arrived at Cristóbal on 3 February 1938. Erie immediately transited the Panama Canal, for the first time, berthed at Balboa, the Canal's Pacific terminus, and reported for duty with SPERON. Balboa would be Eries homeport until being transferred to the Offshore Patrol-Atlantic of the Panama Sea Frontier, and subsequently, to the Caribbean Sea Frontier Task Force in 1942.