Paducah USS

Era: World War II

Military Branch: Navy

Unit Info: USS Paducah

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USS Paducah (PG-18 / Y.P. 61)

The USS Paducah (PG-18) was a Dubuque-glass gunboar acquired by the Navy before World War I. It was launched October 11th 1904, by the Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co. of Morris Heights, NY.

She was sponsored by Miss Anna May Yeiser; and commissioned on September 2nd 1905. The initial commander was Albert G. Winterhalter. The USS Paducah was reclassified several more times:

  • AG–7 in 1919;
  • IX–23,  April 24th 1922;  -and-
  • PG–18, 4 November 1940.

 

Pre-WWI -

The USS Paducah joined the Caribbean Squadron early in 1906 to protect American lives and interests through patrols and port calls to Caribbean and Central America and South American cities. She patrolled Mexican waters in the aftermath of the Vera Cruz incident.through the summer of 1914, then returned to her Caribbean operations, performing surveys from time to time.

WWI - 

The Paducah was ordered north to prepare for World War I at Portsmouth, New Hampsire. On September 29th 1917 she sailed from New York an reached Gilbralter on October 27th, and was based there as convoy escort for the areas around North Africa, Italy and the Azores.

On September 9th 1918 the Paducah attacked a submarine after it had sunk one of her convoy and was credited with possibly damaging the submarine. On December 11th she left Gilbralter for Portsmouth, NH and reached there January 7th 1919 to be decommissioned on March 2nd 1919.

Between WW's - 

USS Paducah was again recommissioned from August 16th 1920 through September 9th 1921 for survey duty in the Caribbean. She was commissioned a third time 2 May 1922 for duty training Naval Reservists in the 9th Naval District. She arrived in Duluth Minnesota on June 20th, replacing the USS Essex which then became a receiving ship. These training missions included regular two-week cruises, and gunnery practice on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. In addition to regular duties, the ship was used for miscellaneous ceremonial purposes, assisted in the fight against a fire on Islr Royale, and assisted with rescue work when the Mississippi River flooded.

The Paducah was modified in the early 1930s to run on oil-fired boilers. The triple expansion engines were installed, with boilers fore and aft. Additional modifications included hammock berthing on a new boat deck, and a sheltered main deck between the quarterdeck and the pilot house.

WWII -

Paducah returned to the East Coast in 1941 and through WWII. She was used to train Naval Armed Guard gunners in Chesapeake Bay thus giving vital service to the Merchant Marine’s crucial World War II assignment.

For more complete history of the USS Paducah's (PG-18) crew, see the list below for links to their individual stories:

  • David Davidson
  • Ken Davidson
  • Eugene Dutek
  • Vernon Erickson
  • Joe Ferazzi
  • Ray Folland
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