USS Corpus Christi (PF-44), a , was the first ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 to be named for Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, Texas

Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Corpus Christi (PF-44) was launched 17 August 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corp., Wilmington, California; sponsored by Mrs. C. Driscoll; commissioned 29 January 1944 at San Pedro, California, Commander W. W. Childress, USCG, in command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet.

Service history

Corpus Christi cleared San Pedro 31 May 1944 for Nouméa, Cairns, and Perth, Western Australia

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, arriving 18 July. Here she had duty aiding submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

s in exercises and training under Commander, Submarines, 7th Fleet. Corpus Christi was twice commended for unusual accomplishments while under this command, first for locating and rescuing 92 survivors of the torpedoed in the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

 13 February 1945 after an extended search by all available ships of the United States and Australian Navies, and second, for refueling the British battleship at sea between 13 and 15 June.

Corpus Christi stood out of Perth 27 August 1945 for Manus, Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

, and San Pedro, arriving 3 October. Here she was converted into a weather ship at Terminal Island. Corpus Christi was on loan to the Coast Guard from 15 April to 5 July 1946. She was decommissioned 2 August 1946 and sold 3 October 1947.

External links

• hazegray.org: USS Corpus Christi