USS ''St. Augustine'' (PG-54) was built in 1929 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. in

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. She was originally a steel-hulled yacht named ''Viking'' and later named ''Noparo''. She was purchased by the US Navy on 5 December 1940 and was sent to Bethlehem Steel Corp. in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

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where she was converted into a patrol

gunboat 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. History Pre-ste ...

. She was named ''St. Augustine'' on 9 January 1941 and commissioned as USS ''St. Augustine'' on 16 January 1941. ''St. Augustine'' was assigned to the 1st Naval District and operated out of Boston as a patrol ship until 1942. She was transferred to the Eastern Sea Frontier where she escorted convoys between

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and various Caribbean ports. On the night of 6 January 1944, while leading a convoy from New York to Guantanamo Bay,

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, ''St. Augustine'' was accidentally rammed by merchant tanker '' Camas Meadows'' off the coast of

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...

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. ''St. Augustine'' foundered within five minutes, and 115 of the 145 crewmembers on board were killed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Augustine (PG-54) Escort ships of the United States Maritime incidents in January 1944 Shipwrecks of the New Jersey coast Ships built in Newport News, Virginia Gunboats of the United States Navy World War II patrol vessels of the United States Ships sunk in collisions