View source for USS Beacon (PG-99)

{{short description|Gunboat of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Beacon}}

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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Beacon (PG-99) with USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) c1970.jpg
|Ship image size = 300px
|Ship caption=''Beacon'' refueling from {{USS|Kitty Hawk|CVA-63|6}}, 1970
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1977}}
|Ship name=USS ''Beacon'' (PG-99)
|Ship namesake=[[Beacon, New York]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Peterson Builders]], Inc.
|Ship laid down=15 July 1968
|Ship launched=17 May 1969
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship commissioned=22 November 1969
|Ship decommissioned=22 April 1977
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=Transferred to [[Hellenic Navy]] as PG ''Hormi''
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=Greece
|Ship flag=[[File:Hellenic Naval Ensign 1935.svg|50px|border]]
|Ship name=PG ''Hormi'' (P 230)
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship honors=
|Ship fate=
|Ship status=currently serving as of 2009
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Asheville|gunboat}}
|Ship displacement=245 tons
|Ship length={{cvt|164|ft|6|in}}
|Ship beam={{cvt|23|ft|11|in}}
|Ship draft={{cvt|5|ft|4|in}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed={{convert|40|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship complement=24
|Ship armament=*1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{cvt|3|in|0}}/50 caliber gun]]
*1 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors 40 mm gun]] mount
*2 × twin [[M2 Browning|.50 caliber machine guns]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Beacon'' (PGM-99/PG-99)''' was an {{sclass|Asheville|gunboat}} in the [[United States Navy]] during the [[Vietnam War]]. She was transferred to the [[Hellenic Navy]] where she serves as PG ''Hormi''.

==Construction and career==
''Beacon'' was laid down on 15 July 1968 at [[Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin]] by [[Peterson Builders]], Inc.; launched on 17 May 1969; sponsored by Mrs. William F. Krantz; and commissioned at the [[Boston Naval Shipyard]] on 22 November 1969, Lt. [[Larry Seaquist|Larry R. Seaquist]] in command.

The gunboat, designed for littoral operations such as those presented by the volatile [[Cuba]]n situation of the early 1960s, was equipped with combination diesel and gas turbine engines. The latter provided bursts of extremely high speed that, when combined with variable-pitch propellers, allowed ''Beacon'' and her sisters to perform blockade, surveillance, and patrol missions in confined, coastal waters.

Ordered to [[San Diego]], to join Coastal Squadron (CosRon) 3, the ship headed south on 4 December. Five days later, after stops at [[Newport, Rhode Island]] and her namesake city of [[Beacon, New York]], she moored at the [[Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek]]. There, the gunboat welcomed a number of official visitors on board before departing the Norfolk area on 12 January 1970. In company with [[sister ship]]s {{USS|Surprise|PG-97|6}} and {{USS|Green Bay|PG-101|6}}, the gunboat stopped at [[Naval Station Mayport|Mayport, Florida]], and [[Guantánamo Bay]], Cuba, before transiting the [[Panama Canal]] on 25 January. After stopping for fuel at Rodman in the Canal Zone, she resumed her voyage to [[California]], making another fuel stop at [[Acapulco, Mexico]], before arriving in San Diego on 7 February. Joining the other gunboats in CosRon 3, she conducted shakedown training out of San Diego until late June. On 29 June, ''Beacon'' began a post shakedown availability at the [[Long Beach Naval Shipyard]].

Following repairs, the gunboat assisted Amphibious Group (PhibGru) 1 in the development of anti-missile boat warfare doctrine. These tactics, designed to counter the anti-ship missile threat from [[Soviet Union|Soviet]]-made fast attack boats, were refined as ''Beacon'' conducted gunnery, replenishment, convoy protection, and special warfare exercises through the end of the year. Other activities included a plane guard and refueling exercise with the aircraft carrier {{USS|Kitty Hawk|CVA-63|6}} on 26 August and a port visit to [[Monterey, California]] on 22 October.

On 1 February 1971, ''Beacon'' and her sister ship {{USS|Chehalis|PG-94|6}}, entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard for repairs. Both gunboats underwent vibration testing and a regular overhaul until 7 May when they headed back to San Diego. Ordered to the east coast, the gunboat departed San Diego, along with ''Chehalis'', ''Green Bay'', and {{USS|Boulder|LST-1190|6}}, on 21 June. Sailing via Acapulco, the Panama Canal, and [[Cartagena, Colombia]], the gunboats arrived at [[Naval Station Norfolk|Norfolk, Virginia]] on 10 July.

Reassigned to the newly formed River Squadron (RivRon) 2 at Little Creek, they commenced various littoral training exercises out of their new home port almost immediately. Those operations ranged the length of the east coast. In Operation "Beaver Tail-71", a coastal defense exercise held in mid-August in [[Narragansett Bay]], ''Beacon'' and ''Chehalis'' planted sono-buoys, patrolled the bay, and intercepted intruder ships. A month later, in Operation "Escort Tiger", the gunboats operated off [[Vieques Island]], Puerto Rico, and conducted naval special forces ([[SEAL]]) training exercises.

On 2 December, ''Beacon'' suffered a small gasoline explosion in her turbine room. Although she sustained only minor damage, the gunboat entered [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]] on 27 December for repairs. Completing these on 11 February 1972, she got underway for coastal exercises in the [[West Indies]] six days later. On 25 February, however, while just off [[Cape Maisí]], Cuba, the gunboat was struck by MS ''Suriname'', a Dutch cargo ship, and suffered several gasoline fires, took on water in the main engine room, and lost engine power.

[[File:Gitmo d 004 USS Beacon.jpg|thumb|USS ''Beacon'']]

After ''Beacon'' completed temporary repairs at Guantanamo, {{USS|Shakori|ATF-162|6}} towed her to Norfolk on 2 April. Five days later, she entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for four months of repairs and alterations. The gunboat completed sea trials in [[Chesapeake Bay]] on 24 August and departed a week later to complete her unfinished Caribbean exercises. After a visit to [[Port Everglades, Florida]], ''Beacon'' began refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay on 7 September. These operations, including port visits to [[Ocho Rios, Jamaica]] and [[Cap-Haïtien, Haiti]], lasted until mid-November when ''Beacon'' participated in Exercise "Escort Tiger XIII". On the 16th, while conducting screen operations against "enemy" PTF's, the gunboat was diverted to assist {{USS|Tucumcari|PGH-2|6}}, which had gone aground off Vieques Island. After providing first aid to the injured, the gunboat carried most of the hydrofoil's crew to [[Roosevelt Roads]].

Returning to Little Creek in mid-January 1973, ''Beacon'' then moved to the [[Naval Ship Research and Development Center]]'s facility at [[Annapolis, Maryland]], on 21 February. There she had de-icing equipment installed before sailing north for colder waters on 2 March. She operated off Newport, to evaluate the de-icing gear, until returning to Annapolis on 19 March. Following the removal of the de-icing equipment, the gunboat moved to [[Onslow Beach]], North Carolina, for a major amphibious exercise. After planting and maintaining acoustic sensors around the beachhead, ''Beacon'' took part in several convoy protection patrols and, despite heavy weather, successfully intercepted a dawn PTF "attack" on the task force.

On 4 April, however, heavy swells caused the gunboat to "surf" and go aground outside the harbor at [[Morehead City]]. Wave action drove the ship hard aground, and it was not until the next day that two commercial tugs could pull her free. Severe damage to both propellers and the drive train required shipyard facilities, and so the gunboat was towed to the [[Norfolk Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation]], Brambleton Division, on 13 April. Recurring delays and poor workmanship plagued the repairs, and they dragged on through the summer and into the fall. On 1 October, the Navy halted the work and towed ''Beacon'' to Norfolk Naval Shipyard where repairs were finally completed on 7 December.

In January 1974, ''Beacon'' returned to active service with a regular schedule of exercises and refresher training out of Little Creek. The gunboat sailed to Guantanamo Bay to practice attacking convoys during Exercise "Escort Tiger XVI" in February; and, in March, she participated in Exercise "Safe Pass 74" in the Virginia Capes area. Following a mid-May visit to Washington, D.C., ''Beacon'' took part in Exercise "Solid Shield 74", a convoy-protection exercise held near Onslow Beach, N.C., between 27 May and 6 June. Shortly thereafter, on 18 June, the gunboat entered [[Horne Brothers Incorporation]], [[Newport News, Virginia]], for a major overhaul. New diesel engines and a new boiler were installed, and nearly all the electronics equipment was overhauled.

After completing repairs on 10 October, ''Beacon'', resumed local operations out of Little Creek. That routine—broken only by a visit to Beacon, New York, late in November—occupied her time through the end of the year and the first two months of 1975. On 5 March, the gunboat got underway for Roosevelt Roads and [[United States Fleet Forces Command|Atlantic Fleet]] Readiness Exercise 2-75. For the next four weeks she tested Soviet missile-boat tactics against [[NATO]] forces operating off [[Puerto Rico]]. ''Beacon'' sailed for Port Everglades on 7 April. She departed that port on the 13th and, after a brief fuel stop at Mayport on the morning of the 14th, the gunboat ran into a storm off the coast of northern Florida. Engine damage then knocked out her main propulsion system and she was forced to anchor. High seas and gale-force winds battered the stranded gunboat for eight hours until {{USS|Salinan|ATF-161|6}} arrived to tow her back to Mayport.

Following repairs, ''Beacon'' returned to active duty on 18 April. Over the next seven weeks, the gunboat participated in two exercises off the Carolinas. She continued her now familiar role as an enemy missile boat—conducting simulated raids, inserting marine reconnaissance teams ashore, and testing remote sonobuoys—until sailing north in early July. ''Beacon'' then visited New York, Newport, and [[Boston]], Massachusetts before returning to Little Creek at the end of the month. On 1 August she turned south, this time for Reserve Marine Amphibious Unit Landing Exercise 1-75 held off [[Onslow Bay]]. ''Beacon'' undertook the duties of alternate primary control ship during the amphibious landings until returning to Little Creek on 8 August.

After a brief drydocking in AFDL-6, to repair her port screw blades and to sandblast and paint her hull, the gunboat sailed north to Washington, D.C. for the official celebration of the Navy's 200th Birthday on 8 October 1975. During the 10-day stay at the [[Washington Navy Yard]], ''Beacon'' hosted over 3,000 visitors, including the [[Secretary of the Navy]], [[J. William Middendorf II]]. She rounded out the year with a four-day port visit to Annapolis in October, another Marine Corps landing exercise in November, and a visit by the [[Chief of Naval Operations]] of the [[Imperial Iranian Navy]] on 18 December.

Tentatively designated for transfer to Greece, ''Beacon'' spent much of 1976 preparing for and conducting demonstration rides for foreign naval personnel. She welcomed representatives from the [[Thailand|Thai]] and [[Paraguay]]an navies as well as members of the [[Canada-United States Military Cooperation Committee]]. When not so engaged she continued to carry out local operations out of Little Creek, which included participation in Exercise "Solid Shield 76" in May, and midshipmen training and orientation rides in June and October.

On 21 January 1977, the gunboat departed Little Creek for another set of coastal exercises held off Puerto Rico. As part of these amphibious operations, ''Beacon'' put underwater demolition teams (UDT) ashore, simulated gunfire support, and planted recon pick-up buoys. She concluded her part in these exercises with simulated high-speed missile-boat attacks on friendly units. On 15 February, she and ''Green Bay'' began 10 days of exercises with units of the [[Dominican Republic Navy]]. On 24 February, while in transit back to Little Creek, the two gunboats received messages alerting them to the imminent possibility of Greek transfer. After a stop at Mayport for fuel and supplies, the gunboat returned to Little Creek on 3 March. Preparations proceeded rapidly, and ''Beacon'' was decommissioned on 22 April 1977. The transfer was delayed, however, and the gunboat was placed in reserve.

===Greek service===
After more than 12 years in reserve at the [[Atlantic Fleet Inactive Ship Facility]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia]], she was transferred to the [[Hellenic Navy]] on 22 November 1989, and her name was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy List]] in June 1990. Renamed ''Hormi'' (P 230), the gunboat remains in Greek service.

==References==

{{Reflist}}
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{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/beacon-i.html}}

{{Naval Vessel Register|{{Naval Vessel Register URL|id=PG99}}}}
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{{Asheville class gunboat}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beacon (Pg-99)}}
[[Category:Asheville-class gunboats]]
[[Category:1969 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Peterson Builders]]
[[Category:Asheville-class gunboats of the Hellenic Navy]]