USS Sandusky

Did you know that there was a ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Sandusky? Actually, there were two ships called the USS Sandusky. The first was an ironclad steamer, built in Pittsburgh during the Civil War and launched in 1865. The first USS Sandusky did not serve for very long -- it was sold for scrap in 1873. (It is not known whether any images of this ship exist.)

The second USS Sandusky (PF-54), a Tacoma-class frigate, came into existence during World War II. Commissioned at New Orleans in 1944, the Sandusky served in the Pacific on convoy duty and submarine patrols through March 1945. In July 1945, the Sandusky was decommissioned and loaned to the Soviet Union under the lend-lease program for four years. From 1953 until 1970 (when it was scrapped), the ship known originally as the USS Sandusky served the government of Japan, now an ally of the United States.