As the nation celebrates the 152nd birthday of Andres
Bonifacio, the founder of the Katipunan and considered to be the country's
first president, it is interesting to note that the former was also the name of
one of the Philippine Navy (PN)'s most powerful ships in the late 70s up to the
early 90s.
This was the frigate, BRP Andres Bonifacio (PF-7), who was
commissioned on July 27, 1976 and served until Sept. 30, 1993.
The former was the lead ship of the Andres Bonifacio class
frigates of the PN which consists of the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PF-8), BRP
Diego Silang (PF-9) and BRP Francisco Dagohoy (PF-10).
These ships were the largest and most heavily-armed frigates
of the PN during that time.
The above-mentioned vessels weighs 2,800 tons with a full
war load, has a length of 311 feet, has a cruising speed of 18.2 knots and is
armed with one five-inch automatic cannon.
The latter weapon is the largest weapon ever mounted in a PN
ship even with the arrival of the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar class frigates.
These ships were formerly used by the US Navy as
Barnegat-class small seaplane tenders.
These vessels were former naval vessels of the South
Vietnamese Navy.
And when the South Vietnam
collapsed in 1975, these four vessels fled to Subic Bay ,
Philippines where they reverted
to the control of their former operator, the United States
These four ships formed the backbone of the Philippine Fleet
and served loyally for 17 years until lack of spares and obsolescent prompted
their decommissioning in 1993.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=832791
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