departed Cold Bay in company with nine of her sister ships – EK-1 (ex-Charlottesville), EK-2 (ex-Long Beach), EK-3 (ex-Belfast), EK-4 (ex-Machias), EK-5 (ex-San Pedro), EK-6 (ex-Glendale), EK-8 (ex-Coronado), EK-9 (ex-Allentown), and EK-10 (ex-) – bound for Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in the Soviet Union. EK-7 served as a patrol vessel in the Soviet Far East. In February 1946, the United States began negotiations for the return of ships loaned to the Soviet Union for use during World War II. On 8 May 1947, United States Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal informed the United States Department of State that the United States Department of the Navy wanted 480 of the 585 combatant ships it had transferred to the Soviet Union for World War II use returned, EK-7 among them. Negotiations for the return of the ships were protracted, but on 15 October 1949 the Soviet Union finally returned EK-7 to the U.S. Navy at Yokosuka, Japan. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, 1953–1970 Reverting to her original name, Sandusky lay idle in the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Yokosuka until the United States loaned her to Japan on 26 February 1953 for service in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as . Nire was redesignated PF-287 on 1 September 1957. The United States struck her from the Navy list on 1 December 1961 and transferred her outright to Japan on 28 August 1962. In 1969, she was reclassified as an "auxiliary stock craft" (YAC) and renamed YAC-19. Japan returned her to the United States on 31 March 1970 for disposal. Awards The U.S. Navy awarded Sandusky two battle stars for her World War II service. References External links hazegray.org: USS Sandusky Tacoma-class frigates Ships built in Milwaukee 1943 ships World War II frigates and destroyer escorts of the United States Tacoma-class frigates of the Soviet Navy World War II frigates of the Soviet Union Cold War frigates of the Soviet Union Tacoma-class frigates of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Ships transferred under Project Hula