BELFAST – The Belfast Historical Society and Museum will host a reunion of several members of the original crew of the USS Belfast, a Tacoma Class patrol frigate named for the city.

Built by the Consolidated Steel Corp.’s shipyard in Wilmington, Calif., in 1943 and manned by a Coast Guard crew, the ship saw action in the Pacific theater during World War II, earning two battle stars, though crew members insist it should be four.

Nine members of the ship’s crew, coming from as far away as Florida and Washington state, will be in Belfast July 17-19.

During their visit, a ship’s model of the Belfast, built by crew member Robert Paridy of Port Orange, Fla., will be presented to the Belfast Museum.

The crew also will gather to tell stories about their time aboard the ship which will be recorded for posterity and placed in the museum archives.

On the evening of July 18, Frank D. Hazeltine American Legion Post 43 will host a dinner for the crew. Representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard station in Rockland will be present at all events.

The USS Belfast was one of almost 100 patrol frigates built for service during World War II. It was launched on May 20, 1943, sponsored by Elizabeth Wilson, the great-great granddaughter of John Wilson, a congressman from Belfast in 1819.

Under terms of the Lend-Lease Program, the ship was lent to the Soviet Union in 1945 and was declared a total loss by the U.S. Navy after running aground in 1948 off eastern Siberia.

The Belfast Museum is located at 10 Market St. For information, call 338-9229.