Moberly (PF-63)
1944-1947
The city in the north central part of the state of Missouri and the county seat of Randolph County.
(PF‑63: displacement 1,430; length 303'11"; beam 37'6"; draft 13'8"; speed 20 knots; complement 214; armament 3 3-inch, 4 40 millimeter, 9 20 millimeter, 2 depth charge tracks, 8 depth charge projectors, 1 depth charge projector (Hedgehog); class Tacoma; type S2‑S2‑AQ1)
Scranton, originally designated as PG‑171, then reclassified PF‑63 on 15 April 1943, was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (M. C. Hull 1476) at Superior, Wisc., by Globe Shipbuilding Co., on 3 November 1943; launched 26 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Howard J. Snowden; renamed Moberly on 28 June 1944; placed in service from 1 to 7 September during transfer to Houston, Texas, for completion of construction by Brown Shipbuilding Co.; and commissioned at Houston, Texas, on 11 December 1944, Lt. Cmdr. Leslie B. Tollaksen, USCG, in command.
After shakedown off Bermuda, Moberly reported to the Atlantic Fleet on 8 February 1945 for escort duty. Assigned to Task Group (TG) 60.1, she departed Norfolk, Va., on 22 February in the screen of North African bound convoy UGS‑76. She reached Oran, Algeria, on 10 March, then sailed on the 18th with westbound GUS‑76. Transferred to TG 60.7 on 29 March, she joined the eastbound convoy UGS‑82 in mid-Atlantic and returned to Oran on 8 April. Once again, the frigate sailed for the United States on 17 April. The escorts left the convoy off New York about noon on 5 May and beaded for Boston.
In company with the escort vessels Atherton (DE‑169) and Amick (DE168), Moberly approached Buzzards Bay late that afternoon, only two days before Germany surrendered. At 1854, on orders from CTG 60.7 in Ericsson (DD‑440), then at the southern entrance to the Cape Cod Canal, the ships turned about to search for a German submarine off Block Island. At 1740, U‑853 (24-year old Oberleutnant zur See Helmut Fromsdorf in command) had torpedoed and sunk Black Point (Charles E. Prior, Master) within sight of Point Judith, R.I., as the American collier headed for Boston.
With Lt. Cmdr.Tollaksen in tactical command, the ships reached the area at 1920; and, after forming a scouting line off Block Island, they began a sweep to seaward at 2010. Within 15 minutes Atherton detected the snorkel submarine, bottomed in a depth of 18 fathoms. The escort vessel dropped magnetic depth charges at 2028 and during the next 30 minutes fired two full spreads of Hedgehogs.
Working as an effective hunter‑killer group, Atherton and Moberly continued the search and destroy operations. At 2341 the escort vessel launched Hedgehogs which brought large amounts of oil, air bubbles, and debris to the surface. The two ships delivered four more attacks in the early hours of 6 May, and by dawn oil and flotsam littered the ocean. The ships recovered such conclusive evidence as planking, life rafts, a chart tabletop, clothing, and an officer's cap, which indicated the accuracy and severity of the earlier attacks. To be certain however, they pounded the lifeless U‑boat throughout the morning; thence, at 1240 TG 60.7 headed for Boston with "brooms at mastheads."
Moberly operated between Boston and New York until 31 July 1945 when she sailed with three other frigates for the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal on 8 August and reached Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on the 23rd. Six days later, Moberly and Gladwyne (PF‑62) sailed for the Marshall Islands to begin weather station and plane guard patrols. The frigates reached Majuro on 5 September, and during the next six months alternated on patrolling their assigned area out of Majuro and later out of Kwajalein.
Moberly returned to the west coast early in April 1946 and subsequently served in the Thirteehth Naval District. She was decommissioned on 12 August 1946. Authorized by the Secretary of the Navy for disposal on 29 August, Moberly was stricken from the Navy Register on 23 April 1947. She was sold for scrapping to Franklin Shipwrecking Co., Hillside, N.J., on 27 October 1947.
Moberly received one battle star for her World War II service, for her part in the antisubmarine action of 6 May 1945.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
30 May 2024
