1943: The Launch of a U.S. Navy Vessel that Would Serve as Both a Convoy Escort and Weather Ship

August 7, 1943

With World War II being waged across the globe, the U.S. Navy ship USS Chattanooga (PF-65) was launched at the shipyard of the Leathem B. Smith Shipbuilding Company in the city of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

This ship was named after one of Tennessee’s largest cities, and the christening duties at the vessel’s launch were performed by Cecilia Embrey Daniel (1890-1973). Daniel, described by International News Service as “a silvery haired Chattanooga school teacher,” was the mother of a U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Reserve serviceman who had paid the ultimate price in the fight against the Axis powers. While stationed on board the aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8) in the Pacific Theater, private first class Hugh Spencer Daniel (1923-1942) died of injuries sustained while firing an on-deck machine gun to help fend off Japanese attack planes.

His death in the line of duty resonated deeply with the Chattanooga Navy Mothers Club, which consisted of women with sons in the Navy, USMC, and Coast Guard. The members of this club strongly and successfully lobbied Chattanooga mayor Edward Davis Bass (1873-1960) to appoint Cecilia Embrey Daniel to attend and take part in the launch of the ship bearing the city’s name. (The accompanying photo of USS Chattanooga was taken during her launch.)

At a meeting and tea of the Chattanooga branch of the American Association of University Women that September, Daniel spoke to the group about the launch of the ship. The Chattanooga Daily Times reported, “Mrs. Daniel showed several pictures, the bottle used at the christening and a gold inscribed plate.” On November 16 of that year, she christened another Navy vessel. This vessel was the destroyer escort USS Daniel (DE-335), named in memory of her son, and the launch took place at the shipyard of Consolidated Steel Corporation in Orange, Texas.

Only nine days after her launch, USS Chattanooga was renamed Uniontown after a city in southwestern Pennsylvania. This was done so that the name “Chattanooga” could be used for another new navy ship instead. USS Uniontown (PF-65) was officially commissioned into the navy on October 6, 1944. She was assigned to Task Force 61 at Hampton Road, Virginia, that December to serve as a convoy escort.

Uniontown ended making a total of three round-trip transatlantic voyages between the United States and the coastal city of Oran, Algeria. The first of these voyages took place between December 29, 1944, and February 11, 1945, while the second one lasted from March 15 to April 9, 1945. The third and final one began on April 28, 1945. While still en route to Oran, the ship’s crew received word that Germany had surrendered to the Allies.

After her return to the United States, Uniontown was modified to serve instead as a weather ship. She was subsequently deployed over the next several months to weather stations in Newfoundland and Greenland.  Uniontown was decommissioned on December 20, 1945 at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. On January 8 of the following year, she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. This ship was sold to the government of Argentina in July 1947 and renamed ARA Sarandi (P-33). She remained part of the Argentine Navy’s fleet until 1968.

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on USS Uniontown (originally named USS Chattanooga), please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Uniontown