The third CAMPBELL, built in 1848, was considered the finest example of the sailing cutter; sleek and trim in appearance, she was called "Queen of Sailing Cutters". The fourth CAMPBELL, built in Somerset, Massachusetts, patrolled New England waters from 1853-1875. The fifth CAMPBELL, CG-32, was the longest lived and the most famous. Built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in 1936, USS CAMPBELL CG-32 earned the title "Queen of the Seas" during her illustrious forty-six year career which spanned World War II, the Korean and Vietnam Wars. CAMPBELL and five sister ships each saw extensive action as convoy escorts during the Battle of the Atlantic throughout 1942-1943.

Capable of maintaining a twenty knot speed in seas that slowed destroyers, these ships were ideal for protecting shipping in the mid Atlantic sector. Direction finding equipment and Asdic (early sonar) provided the primary anti-submarine defense. In February 1943 CAMPBELL was detailed to escort Convoy ON-166 and to provide Search-and-Rescue for any ships in distress. In the early morning hours of February 21st, the convoy was surrounded by a German U-Boat "Wolf Pack". U-606 torpedoed and sank the SS NIELSON ALONSO. Dispatched to assist, CAMPBELL rescued fifty survivors and then turned to attack another boat, U-753, damaging it so badly that the U-Boat had to withdraw from the wolf pack.

Throughout the 21st and 22nd, CAMPBELL attacked several U-Boats inflicting damage and driving off the attackers. Later on the 22nd U-606, having sustained heavy depth charge damage, surfaced in the midst of the convoy attempting a daring surface attack. CAMPBELL struck the sub a glancing blow that gashed CAMPBELL's hull in the engine room below the waterline. CAMPBELL fought on, dropping two depth charges which exploded and lifted the sub four feet out of the water.

The crew brought all guns to bear on the subs, fighting on until water in the engine room shorted out all electricity. At the same time CAMPBELL lost power and the searchlights illuminating the sub went out, the U-Boat Commander ordered the sub abandoned. CAMPBELL ceased fire and lowered boats to rescue the subs survivors. CAMPBELL, disabled in the attack, was towed to port nine days later. She was repaired, rejoining the fleet for convoy duty until the German surrender. She was subsequently transferred to the Pacific to serve as an Amphibious Flagship until the end of the war. After World War II, CAMPBELL returned to peacetime duties under the Treasury Department and was designated a Coast Guard Cutter. All Coast Guard vessels since that time have borne the title U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) rather than the USS title of U.S. NAVY ships. CAMPBELL was twice more called to combat action, in Korean and Vietnamese waters. During Operation Market-Time, CAMPBELL destroyed or damaged 105 Viet Cong structures and steamed over thirty-two thousand miles in the Vietnamese War Zone. CAMPBELL was assigned to Search-and-Rescue, Maritime Law Enforcement, Military Readiness, and Ocean Station duties. She was homeported in New York City until 1969 when she moved to Portland, Maine. In 1974 her homeport was again changed, this time to Port Angeles, Washington. There she continued her peacetime duties until decommissioned in 1982. At the time of decommissioning, CAMPBELL was the oldest active continually commissioned vessel in the United States Fleet.