The USS Belfast (PF-35) was a Tacoma-class frigate constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. Laid down on March 26, 1943, at Wilmington, California, by the Consolidated Steel Corporation under a Maritime Commission contract, the ship was launched on May 20, 1943, and commissioned at Terminal Island, California, on November 24, 1943. Belfast measured approximately 303 feet in length, with a beam of 37 feet, and displaced around 1,430 tons standard. She was designed to serve primarily as a patrol vessel and convoy escort in the Pacific Theater. Following her commissioning, Belfast underwent outfitting, shakedown, and repairs before departing San Pedro, California, on April 30, 1944, for Australia. She arrived at Cairns, Australia, in late May 1944, and then operated in the Southwest Pacific, supporting amphibious assaults along New Guinea’s northern coast. Notably, she participated in the Noemfoor landing on July 2, 1944, and the assault on Cape Opmarai on July 30, 1944. Belfast continued operating around western New Guinea until October 1944, when she escorted a convoy to Leyte in the Philippines. She then stayed in the Leyte area until December 1944, after which she returned to the United States, arriving in Boston in January 1945 for repairs. In 1945, Belfast joined Escort Division 25 and traveled from Maine to Seattle via the Panama Canal, arriving in April. She then moved to Kodiak, Alaska, in June 1945, to participate in Project Hula—a secret program transferring U.S. Navy ships to the Soviet Navy in anticipation of their entry into the war against Japan. Belfast was decommissioned on July 12, 1945, at Cold Bay, Alaska, and transferred to the Soviet Union, where she was renamed EK-3 and served as an escort ship in the Soviet Far East. EK-3's service ended after she ran aground during a storm off Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in November 1948 and was deemed beyond economical repair. The U.S. Navy declared her a total loss in 1949, and she was scrapped in the Soviet Union in 1960. The USS Belfast's service highlights her role in both Allied and Soviet naval operations during and immediately after World War II.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.