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| BREAKING NEWS 20-09-2009 |
| Send in the Navy ___________________ |
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| BRP QUEZON (PS-70) Career (United States of America) Name: USS Vigilance (AM-324) Ordered: 1942 Builder: Associated Shipbuilding Corp. Laid down: 28 November 1942 as HMS Exploit (BAM-24) Launched: 5 April 1943 Decommissioned: 30 January 1947 Struck: 1 December 1966 Fate: Transferred to Philippine Navy in 1967 Career (Philippines) Name: BRP Quezon (PS-70) Commissioned: 19 August 1967 Fate: In service with the Philippine Navy |
| BRP QUEZON (Formerly USS VIGILANCE) |
| Thanks goodness and for the navy, life is about back to normal in Batanes after the delivery of emergency fuel to run the province's power plants. The BRP Quezon (PS-70), the Philippine Navy ship that delivered fuel on September 20, 2009, is one of two Rizal class ships in service in the PN. She was formerly an ex-USN Auk class minesweeper that was produced during World War II, and is now classified as a patrol corvette protecting the vast waters of the Philippines. Along with other ex-World War II veteran ships of the Philippine Navy, she is considered as one of the oldest active fighting ships in the world today. The former USS Vigilance (AM-324) was originally laid down for the Royal Navy under the lend-lease program as HMS Exploit (BAM-24). However, the United States Navy decided to keep the ship and renamed her Vigilance on 23 January 1943. ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ The civil-military group of Naval Forces Northern Luzon (NFNL) conducted medical and dental services in the province. ___________________________________________________ Commissioned in the US Navy in 1944, her first duties included screening of transport convoys between Pearl Harbor and the Marshall Islands, and local escort services. She also did minesweeping operations and anti-submarine patrols near Okinawa, and assist in anti-aircraft duties with other vessels. She was able to shoot a number of attacking Japanese aircrafts during this period. She continued on minesweeping and patrol duties in Leyte, Philippine Islands, and in the Japanese home islands before and after Japan surrendered. With her service in World War II, she was awarded with three battle stars. She was then transferred to the Philippines on 19 August 1967 and was commissioned to the Philippine Navy as the RPS (now BRP) Quezon (PS-70), and was one of the Navy's main warships from the 1960s to the present. She was stricken from the Navy in 1994, but was overhauled at the Cavite Naval Dockyard and returned to service in 1995. Some of her weapons were also removed, mainly its anti-submarine equipments due to lack of spare parts. Quezon completed its rehabilitation in April 1996. Recent upgrades include a satellite radio dish for communications. Her current classification is Patrol Corvette and is currently assigned to the Patrol Fleet of the Philippine Navy. - Various sources |
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