The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol to identify their ships by type and by individual ship within a type. The system is analogous to the pennant number system that the Royal Navy and other European and Commonwealth navies use.
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
USS Dolphin (PG-24) was a gunboat/dispatch vessel; the fourth ship of the United States Navy to share the name. Dolphin's keel was laid down by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of Chester, Pennsylvania. She was launched on 12 April 1884, with Captain George Dewey in command, and commissioned on 8 December 1885 with Captain R. W. Meade in command. Dolphin was the first Navy ship to fly the flag of the president of the United States during President Chester A. Arthur's administration, and the second Navy ship to serve as a presidential yacht.
USS Ranger, later USS Rockport and USS Nantucket (PG-23/IX-18), was a gunboat of the United States Navy. A screw steamer with full-rig auxiliary sail, Ranger was destined for a very long 65-year career, serving first as a U.S. Navy gunboat from 1876 to 1920, and later as a training ship with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy from 1909 to 1941.
USS Hoquiam (PG-113/PF-5), a Tacoma-class patrol frigate in commission from 1944 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1951, she is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Hoquiam, Washington. She also served in the Soviet Navy as EK-13 and in the Republic of Korea Navy as ROKS Nae Tong (PF-65).
USS Pasco (PG-114/PF-6), a Tacoma-class patrol frigate in commission from 1944 to 1945, has thus far been the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Pasco, Washington. She later served in the Soviet Navy as EK-12 and in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as JDS Kashi (PF-3/PF-283) and as YAC-12.
USS Everett (PG-116/PF-8), a Tacoma-class patrol frigate in commission from 1944 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1953, thus far has been the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Everett, Washington. She also served in the Soviet Navy as EK-15 and in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as JDS Kiri (PF-11/PF-291/YAC-20).
USS Rockford (PF-48), a Tacoma-class frigate in commission from 1944 to 1945, thus far has been the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for Rockford, Illinois. She later served in the Soviet Navy as EK-18 and in the Republic of Korea Navy as ROKS Apnokkang (62).
The Asheville-class gunboats were a class of small warships built for the United States Navy in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The class is named for a city in western North Carolina and the seat of Buncombe County. All Asheville-class gunboats have since been donated to museums, scheduled for scrapping, or transferred to the Greek, Turkish, Colombian and South Korean Navies. The last two Asheville-class gunboats in US service were USS Chehalis and USS Grand Rapids, which were operated by the Naval Surface Warfare Center until they were stricken in 2016.
At least two ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Chehalis.
The second USS Grand Rapids (PGM-98/PG-98) was an Asheville-class gunboat in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.
USS Beacon (PGM-99/PG-99) was an Asheville-class gunboat in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. She was transferred to the Hellenic Navy where she serves as PG Hormi.
The fifth USS Dolphin (SP-874) was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission during 1918.
Stephen Decatur Jr. was an American naval officer and commodore. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland in Worcester County. His father, Stephen Decatur Sr., was a commodore in the United States Navy who served during the American Revolution; he brought the younger Stephen into the world of ships and sailing early on. Shortly after attending college, Decatur followed in his father's footsteps and joined the U.S. Navy at the age of nineteen as a midshipman.
BRP Heracleo Alano (PC-376) is the sixth ship of the Jose Andrada-class coastal patrol boats of the Philippine Navy. It is part of the first batch of its class ordered through U.S. Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in 1990, and was commissioned with the Philippine Navy in January 1992. It was initially designated as Fast Patrol Craft, and was numbered "DF-376", but later on was re-designated as a Patrol Gunboat, and was finally re-numbered as "PG-376". Another round of reclassification was made in April 2016, which redesignated the patrol gunboat as the coastal patrol craft BRP Heracleo Alano (PC-376)
BRP Liberato Picar (PC-377) is the seventh ship of the Jose Andrada class coastal patrol boats of the Philippine Navy. It is part of the first batch of its class ordered through US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in 1990, and was commissioned with the Philippine Navy in January 1992. It was initially designated as Fast Patrol Craft, and was numbered "DF-377", but later on was re-designated as Patrol Gunboat "PG-377". Another round of reclassification was made in April 2016, which redesignated the patrol gunboat as the coastal patrol craft PC-377.
USS Douglas (PG-100) was an Asheville-class gunboat which served in the United States Navy from 1971 to 1977.
BRP Filipino Flojo (PC-386) is the fifteenth ship of the Jose Andrada-class patrol craft coastal patrol craft of the Philippine Navy. It is part of the second batch of its class ordered through US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) in 1993, and was commissioned with the Philippine Navy on 22 May 1996. She is currently in active service with the Littoral Combat Force, Philippine Fleet.
The Asheville-class gunboat was a class of two gunboats, USS Tulsa and USS Asheville, which was based on Sacramento, an earlier gunboat. Laid down between 1917 and 1919, construction was completed in the early 1920s after which both ships were employed to project US naval power across several different theaters, including Central America and the Pacific, during the interwar years. Tulsa principally served in Asia, assigned variously with the South China Patrol, Yangtze Patrol, and the Inshore Patrol; Asheville mostly stayed in Central America, but did spend a few years on the South China Patrol alongside Tulsa. When war broke out with Japan in the Pacific, both ships were used to escort convoys. Asheville was lost during the war, but Tulsa survived to be broken up in the late 1940s. The class was awarded a total of three battle stars, one for Asheville and two for Tulsa.
Talitha is a 1103 GT motor yacht owned since 2008 by Mark Getty. She was built in 1929–1930 by Krupp Germaniawerft at Kiel as Reveler for Russell Alger, chairman of the Packard Motor Car Company, and her subsequent owners include Robert Stigwood and Paul Getty. In 1942 she was purchased by the United States Navy and served as patrol gunboat USS Beaumont (PG-60) until 1946. The yacht has also carried the names Chalena, Carola, Elpetal, Jezebel and Talitha G.
United States
