USS Douglas (PGM-100)

History
United States
Name:	USS Douglas (PG-100)
Builder:	Tacoma Boatbuilding Company
Launched:	19 June 1970
Commissioned:	6 February 1971
Decommissioned:	1 October 1977
Fate:	Transferred to Naval Sea Systems Command as R/V Lauren
Status:	sunk as target 30 April 2008
General characteristics
Class and type:	Asheville-class gunboat
Displacement:	245 tons
Length:	164 ft 6 in
Beam:	23 ft 11 in
Draft:	5 ft 4 in
Speed:	40 kts
Complement:	24
Armament:	one 3 inch, one 40mm gun mount, two twin .50 cal. machine guns

USS Douglas (PG-100) was an Asheville-class gunboat which served in the United States Navy from 1971 to 1977.

Douglas was constructed by Tacoma Boatbuilding Co., of Tacoma, Washington. She was launched on 19 June 1970 and commissioned as USS Douglas (PG-100) on 6 February 1971.^[1]

She spent the bulk of her career supporting amphibious operations training and was decommissioned on 1 October 1977 at Little Creek, Virginia.^[2]

She was struck from the Navy Register on 1 October 1977 and was transferred to the David Taylor Naval Research and Development Center at Annapolis, Maryland. She was then converted to a Research Vessel, renamed R/V Lauren and operated with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City near Panama City, Florida.^[2]

Lauren was sunk on a sandbank, off the coast of North Carolina, on 30 April 2008 for use as a target for fighter pilots from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock, North Carolina.^[3]

References

1. "DOUGLAS (PG 100)(ex-PGM 100) PATROL COMBATANT". Naval Vessel Register. Naval Sea Systems Command. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
2. "Douglas (PG-100)". Motor Gunboat/Patrol Gunboat Photo Archive. Navsource Online. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
3. Talton, Trista. "EOD Marines sink former gunboat Douglas". Navy Times. Retrieved 11 July 2015.