USS Bath (PF-55)
The second USS Bath (PF-55) was a Tacoma-class frigate of the U.S. Navy. Built by Froemming Brothers, Milwaukee, and Pendleton Shipyards, New Orleans, she was laid down on 23 August 1943, launched on 14 November 1943, and commissioned on 9 September 1944 with a Coast Guard crew.
After shakedown and repairs, Bath operated out of New York, escorting convoys to Guantánamo Bay in January 1945 and patrolling antisubmarine barriers around New York through May 1945. She briefly served at Ocean Station 10 in May 1945. On 13 July 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to transfer Bath to the Soviet Navy under Project Hula. She was decommissioned at Cold Bay on 4 September 1945 and became EK-29 in Soviet service, serving in the Far East.
The United States began seeking the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Union, and EK-29 was returned to U.S. custody on 15 November 1949 at Yokosuka, Japan. Bath was then loaned to Japan on 13 or 23 December 1953. In Japanese service she was known as JDS Maki (PF-18) or JDS Maki (PF-298) and was redesignated PF-298 in 1957. The U.S. Navy struck Bath from its register on 1 December 1961, and the U.S. permanently transferred her to Japan on 28 August 1962. On 31 March 1966 she was decommissioned, renamed YTE-9, and used as a non-commissioned pier-side training ship. She was sold for scrapping on 13 December 1971.
Bath was about 304 feet long with a crew of roughly 190.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:48 (CET).