A city in the far southern tip of Texas on the Rio Grande opposite Matamoros, Mexico. It is the seat of government for Cameron County.
Brownsville (PF-10) was laid down on 14 September 1943 at Richmond, Calif., by Kaiser Cargo, Inc., under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1428); launched on 14 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Lillian Runyon Gurney; and commissioned on 6 May 1944, Comdr. Hollis M. Warner, USCG, in command.
Brownsville completed outfitting at Richmond between 6 May and 19 June. On the latter day, the patrol frigate headed south to San Diego whence she engaged in a month of shakedown training. On 21 July, she completed that training and began post-shakedown availability at Alameda and Oakland, Calif. After several extensions, she completed her repair period near the end of September and reported for duty at San Diego on 28 September.
Brownsville spent her entire, brief Navy career assigned to the Commander, Western Sea Frontier. From September 1944 to April 1945, she served in the Southern California Sector, operating out of San Diego. She conducted barrier patrols and escorted coastal shipping in addition to amphibious training and antisubmarine warfare exercises. After April 1945, the patrol frigate moved to the Northern California Sector and, after a brief assignment patrolling off the entrance to San Francisco Bay, began weather patrols and planeguard duty out of San Francisco. That duty, punctuated by repair periods at Treasure Island, lasted until 15 April 1946 when she was decommissioned, turned over to the Coast Guard on a loan basis, and commissioned as USCGC Brownsville.
The Coast Guard made use of her only until the following August. On 2 August 1946, she was decommissioned once more and later returned to the Navy. Declared surplus to the needs of the Navy, Brownsville was berthed at Seattle, Wash., for more than a year. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 25 September 1946, and she was sold to the Franklin Shipwrecking Co. on 30 September 1947 for scrapping.
28 November 2005
