ROKS ''Dangpo'' (PCEC 56) was a patrol craft of the
Republic of Korea Navy
The Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN; ko, 대한민국 해군), also known as the ROK Navy or South Korean Navy, is the naval warfare service branch of the South Korean armed forces, responsible for naval and amphibious operations. The ROK Navy ...
(ROKN). Originally built as USS ''PCE-842'', a for the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
. ''Dangpo'' was acquired by South Korea on 13 December 1961 and sunk by
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...
n coastal artillery fire on 19 January 1967.
History
U.S. service
PCE-842 was laid down by Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Co. on 12 June 1943; reclassified PCE(R)‑842 on 19 June 1943; again reclassified PCE‑842 on 15 July 1943; launched 14 November 1943; placed in ferry commission 14 November 1943 for transfer down the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...
Key West
Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...
15 March 1944 for convoy escort duty under the 4th Fleet out of
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
,
British West Indies
The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Gre ...
. It reached Teteron Bay 20 March and on the 31st sailed on its initial escort run. For the next 6 months, PCE‑842 guarded convoys between Trinidad and
Recife
That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15)
, image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg
, mapsize = 250px
, map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco
, pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, conducting intensive antisubmarine training between escort voyages.
Arriving Key West 3 December, she left Florida 21 January 1945 with three sister ships for the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a Channel ( ...
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...
, arriving 1 March. Nine days later it sailed via the
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Ca ...
s for duty with the local defense forces of the Philippine sea frontier, and for the remainder of the war conducted antisubmarine patrols and gave escort service for the massive volume of shipping moving about the Philippines.
Following the Surrender of Japan, PCE‑842 remained in the western Pacific as a weather station ship, ranging from the Philippines to the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
. It returned to San Pedro, California, 29 August 1947, then sailed via the Panama Canal for New Orleans, arriving 28 September.
PCE‑842 decommissioned at New Orleans 7 November 1947 and immediately began duty as a Naval Reserve training ship, cruising the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, and visiting Mexico and Cuba.
PCE‑842 trained the Naval Reserve until 13 June 1955, when it sailed to Green Cove Springs to enter the Atlantic Reserve Fleet 17 August. While berthed at Green Cove Springs, it was named ''Marfa'' (PCE‑842) on 15 February 1956 after
Marfa, Texas
Marfa is a city in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in far West Texas, between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park. It is the county seat of Presidio County, and its population as of the 2010 United States Census was 1,981. The c ...
. On 20 March 1961 it was authorized for transfer to
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. The ship's name was struck from the
Navy list
A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...
on 1 June 1961.
South Korean service
Under terms of the Military Assistance Program, the ship was transferred to South Korea on 13 December 1961. Commissioned as ROKS ''Dangpo'' (PCEC 56), it served in the ROKN until sunk in the
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
north of the maritime demarcation line off the eastern coast of the
Korean Peninsula
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
by
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...
n
coastal artillery
Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications.
From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form o ...
on 19 January 1967. Thirty-nine of the 79-man crew were killed.