View source for USS Covington (PF-56)

{{short description|Tacoma-class patrol frigate}}
{{other ships|USS Covington|BAE Guayas}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Covington PF-56 01.jpg
|Ship caption= USS ''Covington'' (PF-56)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1946}}
|Ship name=''Covington'' 
|Ship namesake=City of [[Covington, Kentucky|Convington]], Kentucky
|Ship builder=Globe Shipbuilding Company, [[Superior, Wisconsin]]
|Ship laid down= 1 March 1943
|Ship launched= 15 July 1943
|Ship commissioned= 17 October 1944
|Ship decommissioned= 16 March 1946
|Ship fate=loaned to [[US Coast Guard]], 16 March 1946
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship acquired=returned from US Coast Guard, 17 September 1946
|Ship struck=April 1947
|Ship fate= Sold to [[Ecuador]], 28 August 1947
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|coast guard}}
|Ship name= ''Covington''
|Ship commissioned= 16 March 1946
|Ship decommissioned= 17 September 1946
|Ship fate=Returned to US Navy, 17 September 1946
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Ecuador
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Ecuador|naval}}
|Ship name=''Guayas''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship acquired=28 August 1947
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=1972
|Ship struck=1974
|Ship fate=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class= {{sclass|Tacoma|frigate|1}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|1430|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} light
*{{convert|2415|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} full
|Ship length= {{convert|303|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|37|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|13|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × {{convert|5500|shp|0|abbr=on}} turbines
*3 boilers
*2 shafts
|Ship speed= {{convert|20|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship complement=190
|Ship armament=*3 × [[3-inch/50-caliber gun|3"/50 dual purpose]] guns (3x1)
*4 x [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40&nbsp;mm gun]]s (2×2)
*9 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20&nbsp;mm gun]]s (9×1)
*1 × [[Hedgehog (weapon)|Hedgehog]] [[anti-submarine mortar]]
*8 × [[Y-gun]] depth charge projectors
*2 × Depth charge tracks
}}
|}
'''USS ''Covington'' (PF-56)''', a {{sclass|Tacoma|frigate}}, was the third ship of the [[United States Navy]] to be named for [[Covington, Kentucky]]. ''Covington'', with a [[United States Coast Guard]] crew, served as a weather ship off [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] through early 1946. She was decommissioned in April 1946 and turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard and commissioned the same day as '''USCGC ''Covington'' (PF-56)''' and remained in service through September. She was returned to the U.S. Navy at that time and placed in reserve. In April 1947, she was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] and, in August, sold to the [[Ecuadorian Navy]]. As '''BAE ''Guayas'' (E-21)''', she served as the [[flagship]] of the Ecuadorian Navy from her acquisition through 1967. She was decommissioned in 1972 and stricken in 1974.

==Construction==
''Covington'' (PF-56) was launched on 15 July 1943, by [[Globe Shipbuilding Company]]., [[Superior, Wisconsin]], under a [[Maritime Commission]] contract; sponsored by Miss. J. Phillips; transferred to the Navy on 5 August 1944; placed in "ferry" commission on 7 August 1944; and commissioned in full on 17 October 1944.

==Service history==
''Covington'' arrived at [[Naval Station Argentia|NS Argentia]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], on 25 December 1944, for duty as a weather patrol vessel. She remained on this duty, except for overhauls at [[Boston]] and [[Charleston, South Carolina]], until 16 March 1946, when she was decommissioned and loaned to the Coast Guard. ''Covington'' was returned from the Coast Guard on 17 September 1946, and sold to [[Ecuador]] through the [[Foreign Liquidation Commission]] of the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] on 28 August 1947. ''Covington'' was renamed BAE ''Guayas'' (E-21) and served as the [[flagship]] of the [[Ecuadorian Navy]] until 1967, when she was replaced in that duty by {{ship|BAE|25 de Julio||2}} (the former U.S. Navy [[destroyer escort]] {{USS|Enright|DE-216}}).<ref>{{cite web | author = Armada del Ecuador | author-link = Ecuadorian Navy | title = Fuerza de Superficie | url = http://www.armada.mil.ec/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34 | work = Ëpoca Moderna | publisher = Armada del Ecuador | language = es | access-date =3 December 2009 }}</ref> ''Guayas'' was decommissioned in 1972 and stricken in 1974.

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
*{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/covington-iii.html|http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/patrol/pf56.htm}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|12/08056|USS Covington}}
 
{{Tacoma class patrol frigate|others}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Covington (PF-56)}}
[[Category:Tacoma-class frigates]]
[[Category:Ships built in Superior, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the United States Coast Guard]]
[[Category:Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Ecuadorian Navy]]
[[Category:Frigates of the Ecuadorian Navy]]
[[Category:Weather ships]]