USS Tacoma ( PGM - 92 ) USS " Tacoma " ( PGM - 92 / PG - 92 ) was an of the U . S . Navy and the fourth ship to be named after the city of Tacoma , Washington . " Tacoma " was the first in a series of revised " Asheville " - class gunboats . Some sources call these revised boats " Tacoma " - or PG - 92 - class , but the U . S . Navy officially designates them as " Asheville " - class . The keel of " Tacoma " was laid 24 July 1967 at the Tacoma Boatbuilding Co . , in her namesake city . She was launched on 13 April 1968 , sponsored by Mrs . Arne K . Strom , and was commissioned on 14 July 1969 , with Lt . Frank H . Thomas , Jr . , in command . Originally fitted with a 40mm cannon aft , Tacoma was re - fitted with a 20mm for training . In addition to the dual mounts for . 50 caliber machine guns on the O - 2 level , there were mounts for twin M - 60 machine guns on the O - 3 level . Either could be replaced with the Mk - 19 grenade launcher . The Tacoma was powered by a combination of two Cummins Diesel engines and a General Electric LM - 1500 Gas Turbine . Pneumatic actuators allowed the power source to be switched between the two sources . The Controllable Reversible Pitch ( CRP ) propellers allowed the ship to stop in as little as 2 ship lengths from top speed . Top speed on the gas turbine was in excess of 42 knots . 1969 - 1970 . During the fall of 1969 , " Tacoma " conducted shakedown training and independent ship exercises along the California coast . While so engaged on 16 October , she joined in a search and rescue mission and recovered a sailor who had fallen overboard from USS " Neches " ( AO - 47 ) the previous night . At the completion of refresher training , she participated in amphibious exercise PHIBELEX / BLT 4 - 69 , off Camp Pendleton , Calif . , in early December . In January 1970 , she entered Long Beach Naval Shipyard for post - shakedown availability . " Tacoma " returned to San Diego on 20 May and began preparations for deployment to the western Pacific . On 1 August , after two months of operations out of San Diego , she got underway for the Mariana Islands . Following a week - long stopover in Pearl Harbor , the gunboat arrived in her new home port , Apra , Guam , on 28 August . For almost four years , " Tacoma " alternated between deployments to Vietnam and patrols in the islands of the Trust Territories of Micronesia . Her first tour of duty in Vietnamese waters began on 28 September 1970 when she arrived at Cam Ranh Bay after a week of upkeep at Subic Bay in the Philippines . She was assigned to the Coastal Surveillance Force and participated in search and rescue missions and interdicted communist coastal supply traffic in Operation " Market Time " . On 22 November , she and several other units of the Coastal Surveillance Force cooperated in the destruction of a North Vietnam ese infiltration trawler . She operated off the coast of Vietnam for two more months and then returned to Subic Bay on 31 January 1971 . She remained there two weeks and then headed for Guam , arriving in Apra Harbor on 20 February . " Tacoma " earned two battle stars during the Vietnam War . 1971 . For almost five months , the gunboat underwent overhaul and operated in the vicinity of Guam . On 9 July , she embarked upon her first patrol of the Micronesia Trust Territories . Between then and 26 July , she visited seven islands in the Yap and Palau districts of the Eastern Carolines , conducting surveillance and making goodwill stops . She returned to Guam on the 26th , then departed again on 10 August . While on her second patrol in the Trust Territories , 10 August to 1 September , " Tacoma " visited 19 islands in the Truk and Ponape districts and apprehended a Japanese fishing vessel violating the territorial waters of the Trust Territories at Ngatik Island . She resumed operations in and around Guam on 1 September and was so occupied until early November . 1972 . On 5 November , the gunboat departed Guam in company with " Asheville " ( PG - 84 ) and headed , via Subic Bay , for Vietnamese waters . On 29 November , she and " Asheville " relieved " Crockett " ( PG - 88 ) and " Welch " ( PG - 93 ) and resumed " Market Time " operations interdicting communist coastal supply traffic . After almost two months patrolling the Vietnamese coastline , " Tacoma " departed Cam Ranh Bay on 26 January 1972 for a visit to Bangkok , Thailand . There , she welcomed officers of the Royal Thai Navy on board for tours of the ship . On 3 February , she resumed coastal surveillance patrols along the coast of Vietnam . Late in March , trouble in her starboard main engine forced her to Subic Bay for repairs . The gunboat remained there from 29 March to 24 May ; then she continued on to Guam , via Yap Island . " Tacoma " reached Apra Harbor on 31 May and commenced three months of sea trials , independent exercises , restricted availabilities , and inspections . After a dependents ' cruise to Saipan on 3 September and 4 September , the gunboat conducted refresher training until 14 October , when she headed back to Vietnam with " Asheville " . Between 20 October and 15 December , she made two patrols along the Vietnamese coast , broken by a visit to Bangkok , Thailand , in mid - November . On 15 December , she cleared Vietnamese waters and set sail for the Philippines . She laid over in Subic Bay beginning 18 December awaiting the completion of " Asheville " ' s engine repairs . Then , on 21 December , the two gunboats got underway for Guam , where they arrived on 28 December . 1973 . During the first three months of 1973 , " Tacoma " operated out of Guam , primarily conducting exercises . In February , she made a voyage to Hong Kong , via Subic Bay . The first three weeks in April saw her in port at Apra Harbor preparing for regular overhaul . Yard work on the ship began on 20 April and was completed two months later . In late June and early July , she conducted sea trials and various drills . The gunboat completed type training early in September , then put to sea on 12 September to shadow a Soviet submarine tender and fleet submarine operating in the vicinity of the northern Marianas . She returned to Apra on 18 September and , after a restricted availability , completed sea trials on 27 October . On 5 November , she began another patrol of the eastern Carolines , returning to Guam on 24 November . From 11 December to 16 December , " Tacoma " made a Christmas gift tour of the northern Marianas . 1974 . Following repairs in December and January and refresher training in late January and early February , the gunboat departed Apra on 13 February 1974 for a three - month cruise . In late February , she participated in exercises with " Midway " ( CVA - 41 ) , " Oriskany " ( CVA - 34 ) , and " Marathon " ( PG - 89 ) , out of Subic Bay . In March , " Tacoma " visited Singapore and cruised the Malaysia n coast . Late that month , she visited Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei on the northern coast of Borneo . After two days at Subic Bay , 4 May to 6 May , she headed for Taiwan and visits to Kaohsiung and Kee - lung . The gunboat returned to Guam on 27 May and commenced preparations to return to the United States . " Tacoma " stood out of Apra on 21 June and reached Pearl Harbor on 3 July . Five days later , she continued eastward and arrived in San Diego , Calif . , on 15 July . On 1 August , she headed south along the coast of California and Mexico , stopped at Acapulco for two days , and made Rodman , in the Canal Zone , on 17 August . She transited the canal on 22 August and headed , via Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and Port Everglades , Fla . , to her new home port , Little Creek , Va . , where she arrived on 2 September . 1975 - 1981 . During the period 14 April – 30 June 1975 , " Tacoma " was overhauled in the Norfolk area . On 3 September , following underway refresher training , " Tacoma " commenced the mission of serving as a training unit for Royal Saudi Arabian naval personnel . That assignment , calling for operations along the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean , continued until decommissioning . For the next five years , " Tacoma " and " Welch " were a part of the Saudi Naval Expansion Program , training Saudi personnel on shipboard operations cruising along the East Coast and Caribbean . The ships often served as Opposing Forces during training operations with the other fleet units . Fate . She was decommissioned in 30 September 1981 at Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek , and at that time , was equipped with a 5 " gun and a 20 mm aft . On 16 May 1983 " Tacoma " and " Welch " were leased to the Colombian National Armada as fast attack ships ARC " Quita Sueño " and ARC " Albuquerque " , and were formally transferred to the government of Colombia on 20 September 1995 . Both ships have subsequently been transferred to the Colombian Customs agency .