USS Prowse (PF-92)

A former British protectorate located off the east coast of Africa and comprised of Zanzibar and Pemba Islands. It became a sultanate on 10 December 1963 and attained independence on 12 January 1964, uniting with Tanganyika the same year to form Tanzania.

Zanzibar (PF-92), a Tacoma -class frigate originally classified PG-200, was laid down at Provincetown, Mass., by the Kaiser-Walsh Co., Inc., on 20 October 1943. Completed for the United Kingdom, the warship was turned over to the Royal Navy at Newport, R.I., on 21 June 1944.

Retaining the name Zanzibar but given the pendant number K.596, the frigate operated out of Londonderry and Greenock on convoy escort missions into the western Atlantic as far as Boston. In addition, she served as a weather ship on Ocean Station No. 19 in the spring of 1945, a duty which she again performed in the spring of 1946.

Returned to the United States Navy at Brooklyn, N.Y., on 21 May 1946, Zanzibar was struck from the Navy list on 29 October 1946 and subsequently was sold for scrap on 17 June 1947.

From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Zanzibar (PF-92)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.