PG 70 seen moored to a buoy in the Caribbean circa 1943.National Archives photo 80-G-451532. Photo. www.navsource.org by Rick Davis and John Chiquoine
Built 1939 as the "Flower Class" corvette HMS Pansy by Harland and Wolff Ltd., Belfast, Northern Ireland
Launched 20 April 1940
Renamed Heartsease (K 15) and commissioned 4 June 1940
Acquired by the U.S. Navy 18 March 1942
Commissioned USS Courage (PG 70), 3 April 1942
Decommissioned 22 August 1945 at Harwich, England and returned to the Royal Navy 23 August 1945
Struck from the Naval Register 17 September 1945
Sold into Merchant service 22 July 1946
Acquired in 1951 by Johan C. Giertsen and Co. A/S of Bergen, Norway and renamed Roskva.
Acquired in 1956 by Statius Jansens Rederi A/S of Bergen and renamed Douglas in 1956
Acquired in 1958 by Carrara y Cia of Panama and renamed Seabird in 1958
Lost in December 1958 in an air raid North of Celebes when en route from the Philippines for North Celebes with supplies for rebel forces.
Specifications:
Displacement 1,375 tons.
Length 205'.
Beam 33'.
Draft 14' 7".
Speed 16.5 kts.
Complement 90.
Armament: Two 3"/50 dual purpose mounts, two 20mm guns, two dct, four dcp, one hedgehog dcp.
Propulsion two 3-drum express boilers, 2,750ihp vertical triple expansion Sunderland Engine Co. engine, one shaft.
After overhaul at Charleston, S.C., Courage returned to the Caribbean 25 January 1943. She escorted a convoy to Recife, Brazil from 13 to 28 February. On the return passage, the convoy was attacked by an enemy submarine and Courage rescued 42 survivors from the torpedoed SS Thomas Ruffin. She continued to escort convoys from Trinidad to Recife and on one occasion to Rio de Janeiro, until 9 February 1944 when she returned to Charleston for an overhaul.