USS Grand Rapids (PG-98)

The second USS Grand Rapids (PGM-98/PG-98) was an Asheville-class gunboat in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Grand Rapids.
USS Grand Rapids
History
United States
NameUSS Grand Rapids
NamesakeGrand Rapids, Michigan
BuilderTacoma Boatbuilding Company
Launched4 April 1970
Commissioned5 September 1970
Decommissioned1 October 1977
IdentificationPG-98
FateTransferred to Naval Sea Systems Command as RV Athena II
StatusOwned by Joel Pate
General characteristics
Class and typeAsheville-class gunboat
Displacement245 tons
Length164 ft 6 in (50.1 m)
Beam23 ft 11 in (7.3 m)
Draft5 ft 4 in (1.6 m)
Speed40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)
Complement24
Armament

On 13 June 1968, the Tacoma Boatbuilding Company, Tacoma, Washington laid down Grand Rapids, the eleventh Asheville-class gunboat built by Tacoma. In August 1968, however, the Tacoma shipyard suffered a severe fire that destroyed the under-construction Grand Rapids (together with sister ship Benicia). A new Grand Rapids, with the same hull number, was laid down again by Thursday Tacoma Boat on 20 May 1969. The ship was launched on 20 December 1969 and commissioned on 5 September 1970.[1][2]

Grand Rapids was homeported in San Diego and later Naples, Italy,[3]

Grand Rapids was decommissioned on 1 October 1977 and transferred to the Naval Sea Systems Command where she was renamed research vessel Athena II.[4]

In September 2016, Athena II was stricken from the US Navy.[5][6]

In 2020 the Grand Rapids was listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace for $350,000.[7]

Citations
  1. Friedman 1987, p. 464.
  2. "World's Naval News". Warship International. Vol. VII, no. 1. 31 March 1970. p. 17.
  3. "PG-98 Grand Rapids". Gunboat Riders. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  4. "Gunboat PG-98 Grand Rapids". NavSource Online. Retrieved 2009-06-27.
  5. "PG-98 Grand Rapids". www.navsource.org. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  6. "Naval Vessel Register - GRAND RAPIDS (PG 98)". www.nvr.navy.mil. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  7. "Retired (Grand Rapids) Battleship - $350,000". www.facebook.com/ marketplace. Retrieved 2020-10-12.

References
  • Friedman, Norman (1987). U.S. Small Combatants Including PT-Boats, Subchasers and the Brown-Water Navy: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-713-5.
  • This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
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