In the episode I say that USS PC-566's credited kill of the U-166 is the only enemy submarine kill credited to the subchasers. Since then, viewers have pointed out some other examples including USS PC-565's destruction of the U-521 and USS PC-624's destruction of U-375. There may be more examples as well. I apologize for the error, and hope to cover some of those actions in future episodes.
My father was on a sub-chaser in the Atlantic. He never spoke to me about his experiences until close to his death. I think he only spoke then because my son was fighting in Iraq, and he felt the memories overwhelming.
While there may be misses, I would not call them errors. There is a lot of history that is unclear. That you acknowledge it and move forward means they are not mistakes. Rather, history is unclear. Thank you, THG, for keeping history in the present.
Look up Higgin's story. From assisting Rum Runners to building Revenue Cutters to cornering the market in stocks of wood for his design, then selling the design to the US Goverment. Guy had some front.
I wore that helmet on the bridge of my 2 DDs during General Quarters & off of Vietnam. I was a yeoman, so they always made us phone talkers. Was exciting to have a front row seat at all evolutions. Going in & out of port was fun too. Anchors aweigh... Haze gray, underway...
My ship in the US Navy was a seagoing ("fleet") tug. At 210' we were finally bigger than SOMEbody! My wife is a caregiver. Bert, one of her favorites, used to tell about his days at sea. He was on a PC. I had never heard of them. But Bert asked me what I could find on his class of ship. Surprisingly I found a fair amount and a picture of his ship. Bert was elated! It was like he felt completed... finally acknowledged. Poor old Bert is gone now. But I got to bring a bright spot into his days. I'm so glad. Nowadays when I hear anything about the PCs my ears perk up. Now they mean something to me as well. Thank you Lance. Another good job.
Having been a sailor on an ASW frigate (previously classed as Destroyer Escort), I enjoyed this history of the smaller sub hunters. They were always very underappreciated
14:08 the very first hours and days of The Korean War on June 25th 1950, with the ROK troops fighting alone against the North Korean juggernaut, is also History that deserves to be remembered. Thank you Mr. The History Guy.
While mentioned in passing, the story of PC-823, renamed by Korea PC-701 merits a 15-minute show just on that ship, the ship that saved South Korea. Newly liberated South Korea in 1945 had no ships worth speaking of. A young naval officer, Son Won-II was determined to get one. He talked his officers and men into contributing from their meager salary, sold scrap metal, their wives taking in laundry and sewing to raise enough money to persuade the South Korean government to purchase a broke down submarine chaser. They fixed it up, and with left over funds purchased a 3-inch gun and 100 shells, too few for any test firing. With the invasion of South Korea in 1950, the capital ship of the South Korea navy, the 280-ton PC-701 set sail to patrol the coast. Coming down from the north was a 1000-ton freighter with 600 troops. If they seize the lightly defended Pusan, no stand there by U. N. troops would be possible. The Korean war would be lost in the first few weeks. But as luck would have it, PC-701 found the freighter, which did not respond signals but opened up with heavy machine guns, killing personal on the bridge of PC-701. It all came down to the untested 3-inch gun and the 100 shells. Manning the exposed gun, they fired the shots that turned the battle, chased down the freighter and sank it. I can think of no other example of such a small ship having a bigger impact on history than PC-701. Amazingly, the ship was not maintained like an HMS Victory but was sold for scrap. But its mast is kept at the South Korean Naval Academy.
Thanks for the response to my post. Some more information can be found at the following website. nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/how-lone-60000-patrol-boat-and-its-single-deck-gun-changed-course-korean-war-78871 Curiously, the waters around Tsushima Island have been at the center of naval history three times. In the thirteenth century, the Mongols took the island of Tsushima and used it as one of the springboards for attacking southern Japan, but were defeated and destroyed by the determined Japanese resistance and a mighty Typhoon, called the “Divine Wind”. It was the first military campaign outside of China that made use of gunpower. The second time was during May 27-28, 1905, when a Japanese fleet destroyed the Russian fleet during the battle of Tsushima Strait. With this battle, the Russian efforts to hang on their far eastern empire were doomed, and they lost the war. This was the first war won by an Asian country over a European country for many centuries, all throughout the gunpower era, and marked the rise of Japan on its way to becoming a major world power. A young naval officer, Yamamoto Isoroku, lost two of his fingers in the battle. Had he lost a third he would have been medically discharged from the Japanese navy and perhaps the Pearl Harbor attack would never have happened. And the third time was on the night of June 25-26, 1950. It is interesting that the vision of one man, obtaining a warship for newly independent, recently occupied, by the Empire of Japan, but extremely poor country of South Korea, became his mission. And how he inspired his officers so that his mission became their mission, and then mission of the enlisted men serving under them and the mission of their families. Raising enough money, not near enough to buy the warship, but enough to convince the poor government that they should pay the bill that was difficult to afford. The 3-inch gun and 100 rounds of ammunition was purchased with the left-over funds, which I imagine came from the scape metal and laundry funds. And so, it became possible for a few determined men on an open machine gun swept deck to turn the tide of history, so that to this day (well night), as can be seen from the space station, the northern half of the peninsula is left in darkness, while the southern half shines with light.
As a proud U.S. NAVY veteran I salute Captain Claudius and the brave crew of those ships. Navy brass can be real jackoffs. But in the end, The NAVY does it all and does it ALL AT ONCE ! 👍🏻🇺🇸
George B , you are correct in portraying navy brass as jackoffs. They still are and I guess always will be. I've met very, very few naval officers that I actually felt good about.
My father served as gunnery office on PC620 in the Med, starting in N Africa, then Sicily and up the coast of Italy. The ship's logs and action reports provide an interesting history.
PC-566's story is one of my favorite WWII stories and I'm glad Dr. Ballard was able to help set the record straight and that Captain Claudius got the credit he deserved.
My father served during WWll on PCE 857 USS Marysville. Re-designated PCE-R, Recue, after deploying to the Pacific theatre. Thank you for a "Living" history.
Saw lying down early pre coffee. Waited till over for my cup o joe gi joe that is! USN served. Spruance class DD which could sink ANY wwii battleship and E. Six mk_48 at 35 kts 8"/54's at 16 a minute turning in half hull length. Try hitting her. Yep 32 8" ers a minute fir-power
What a great video. Thank you so much for making it. I've been looking for a video on these SCs for may years. My father was a motor machinist's mate 2nd class on SC 646 from 1942 - 1944. When he was not on duty in the engine room his battle station was a loader for the 40mm Bofors cannon gun. He told me that engine room was very hot and shaky from the waves. The ship was so small they couldn't make their own fresh water, and part of his job was to monitor the fresh water tanks and report the amounts to the Captain. If the water was running too low, they would shut off the water for a day to conserve. No showers that day. The 646 was part of a 3 SC escort for conveys going from Key West, FL. to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Several times they detected a submarine, but when they went after it, it ran off.
Great stories History Guy! Glad to be an early Patron member. During the war, my Dad was inducted straight from the US Weather Bureau into the US Coast Guard as a Chief Warren officer. Lacking satellite-based weather data for convoys and war efforts in Europe, the military placed US Coast Guard ice cutters in a string of points across the Atlantic gathering weather information which would soon constitute the weather on the beaches of Normandy and into Germany. These small ships, ill-designed for heavy seas and poorly equipped for battle, spent 60-day missions cruising 100 nautical mile circles around these pre-selected positions reporting the weather. Armed only with several small deck guns and limited depth charges, these ships provided vital data for military planning in Europe.
Another interesting story. The famed Ski film producer Warren Miller was on a sub chaser in the Pacific and it ran aground in a typhoon. He was credited in helping save the crew on the beach. My Grandfather was also on a sub chaser in the pacific and used to tell me a story of a typhoon they got stuck in and he watched another boat hit a beach and the crew all jumped off into the waves and scrambled into the jungle. I didnt hear the Warren Miller story until he recently died but finally put two and two together that my Grandfather could very well have watched Warren Miller save his crew from his own boat. I am a skier and always watched Warren Miller's movies and its crazy to think my own Grandfather may have met him or saw him back in WWII.
We used to go deep sea fishing on a boat out of Cape May NJ in early 1960's called the Irma B. We were told that it was converted as a sub cahaser during WW2. My dad used to fish on it before the war. Was only an average size fishing boat. Amasing that a 60 or 80' boat made several trips across the Atlantic Ocean. Sorry we never took a picture of her.
I have mentioned my pops several times. He joined the Coast Guard at 16 to help support his family. After two years he had enough of the ocean. He joined the Army Air Corp in 1940. He was a conscientious objector so he was placed in the metal repair shop repair c30s that flew the hump. He said he got what he deserved because instead of flying to India and Burma he circumnavigated the earth joining the Sons of Magellan. The parchment is awesome looking still after all these years. I wish you would look up the sons of Magellan
My dad was a plank holder on PC 1192. Radar man 3rd class. Based out if Trinidad, they escorted convoys from South America , to the Mediterranean. Tough duty, hulls were so thin, they were always sweating. Not enough fresh water. Sailors from larger ships would get sea sick because they rolled so much.
From 1960 until 1962 I served as a radioman on board the USS Peterson DE-152, a destroyer escort based in Key West FL. Her call-sign was NQES. Every morning scores of sonar school students came aboard and we headed into the gulf waters to chase submarines for their training. Most of the equipment on board was WWII vintage, but served us well. After the Cuban Blockade in 1962 she was decommissioned and sent to the scrap yard. Thank you for the DE memories you reactivated.
Thank you for this episode. My dad served on the SC536 picking it up in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin as it rolled off the "assembly line". SC536 was one of the ships to join in the attempt to kill the Japanese submarine; they were stationed in Astoria, Oregon at the time. When he told me about the action, he claimed that the crew never knew the outcome of the event, but his captain was called to their headquarters the next day; upon his return, he ordered the men to never speak of it again.
My Dad, born in 1906, was assigned to a U-Boat chaser, on a British-made "flower-corvette" named the HMS Periwinkle, which the USA obtained from HM, and renamed the USS Restless PG66. I had pictures of her crew in my mother's scrapbook for scores of years, until the internet developed enough for me to know what those photos were that she saved and pasted in the book. I sent copies of the photos to Navsource where they can be seen today. Both my mother (1914-1951) and my father (1906-1972) said nothing about Dad's Naval past after I was born in 1946, but wow do I know NOW! My respect for my father and those first 40 years of his brief life come from knowledge that is now shared with the world through the internet. Thanks for doing this video. I wouldn't be here at all if my Dad's Gunboat hadn't been spared sinking, too. He was on it way before I was born and he was assigned to other ships for the Pacific War, and when I got his military records in 2008 I discovered he had been to Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and even played piano for Bob Hope in 1950 from his aircraft carrier assignment in Korea, on the USS Valley Forge CV45, during which our mother died of cancer. The men of this great country have many no idea of how indebted we ALL are to them for the freedoms we still enjoy because they joined the US Navy or other branches of the service that fought the real enemies of the world in the first half of the 20th Century, because they are now gone! But let us not forget that freedom carries a price, though God gives man all the freedom he needs to do anything he wants, right or wrong. That is through free-will agency innate in every human being at birth, though many tyrants have tried to thwart the good-will of mankind through nefarious means. Man WILL someday fight his LAST WAR to end all wars, and there will be world peace FORCED on man, even against his will by the King of kings, in due time. There will be no end to the peace brought in by that last war, that man will lose when he fights his own Maker! Thank God!
My family is from Antwerp Belgium and I have been told many times that The Antwerp harbor received almost as many V1 & V2 Rockets as London. I would like to see a video on that.
About 300 if I remember . A mile from me is the site of the last Civillian killed by a V2 in the Second World War. Poor women was in her kitchen preparin a meal.
Dear History Guy, I have one other suggestion you may find interesting and I think it is history that deserves to be remembered. I was first assigned to the Guided Missile Frigate USS Sterett (DLG-31) in 1969 and served on her until 1971. The Sterett played a key role in the battle of Dong Hoi off the coast of North Viet Nam. We have some outstanding history of the USS Sterett, it’s predecessor ships (named after Andrew Sterett) and of the battle. It is truly unique naval history. It is the only instance of a naval warship downing NVA MiG aircraft during the war for one.
@@whiterabbit-wo7hw I never got into collecting patches or coins. I have a few patches from my Departments I've worked at- more, less send them to people that make quilts out of then for sick children.
Hello The History Guy, can you please do episodes about the loss of the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion? I have already laid out my reasoning for requesting these in previous videos. All I will say in this post is that a complete and accurate telling of either tale has yet to be done, but the events themselves and the effect they had on the US Navy submarine force are history that deserves to be remembered.
I’ve got a picture of my grandfather sitting on a depth charge rack. He was on wooden minesweepers. He also was an electrician and worked on USS Pirate and USS Pledge. Both sunk during Korea.
If I remember correct; the reason the wooden hulled Subchasers were used for minesweepers instead of the metal hulled ones - it was known that the Axis used magnetic mines. I believe that the conversion included extending the propeller shaft, so that the metal propeller was further away from the ship - in case the metal set off a mine.
@@tommy-er6hh Yes , in coastal waters and harbour entrances German U Boats and aircraft laid 'Influence Mines' Magnetic , acioustic or a mixture of both fuses. Wooden hulled ships and aircraft with giant electro magnetic loops under the fusalage were used. A lot of fishing trawlers and drifters of the Royal Naval Patrol Servcie did the work. They also did Ocean escort as rescue ships including the infamous P17 convoy. De Gaussing wa sanothe rpreventive method . A large cable was wiped up the hull of steel ships to neauterlise the magnetic feild. Played merry hell with the compass swinging. One such Degaussing station was on the River Thames near Coalhouse Fort, just down river from Tilbury. Buildings are still there. The accoustic sweep was a large metal frame with a giant bell and clapper towed astern of the ship. Codename Foxer.
@@andythomson460 I have a photo of the USS Pirate in drydock at Sasebo. And, I have one of him on the USS Pledge sitting on the depth charge rack. He was an E-9 and a master electrician. He worked on many of those minesweepers.
My great grand father was the third officer on a Sub Chaser in the Caribbean in 1943, as far as I know he never encountered a U-boat. Its nice to see a video addressing this subject, thanks for helping keep his memory alive.
There were many US PCs sold or loaned to Ally navies after WW2. In 1960, I read my uncle's China Time newspaper ( Issued from Taiwan, in English.) and found a story of an ex-US PC which was renumbered as 104 in the Rep of China navy. This shallow draft PC was escorting LST to resupply an island just 3 miles from Communist China. She fought 6 Communist torpedo boats and gun boats. Sunk 3 of them and damaged two, but she herself was severely damaged with 60 casualties. The PC limped 200 miles to her home base and had to be scraped later. For a hastly built 290-ton sub chaser, this PC fought like a Fletcher DD.
Your Accuracy and expertise is exceptional! As a retired Captain whose specialty during the cold war was aviation ASW (S2A,B,D, and E and E1B) aircraft You have the knack of tying together all the parts of the situation. Well done!
My father served 30 years in the USN. 20 active and 10 as a reservist. He was on destroyers and cruisers and his last ship was the USS New Jersey when it was ported in Long Beach Ca. He has a joke about submariners. "120 sailors and officers leave for a 90 day patrol on a Los Angeles Class Submarine. How many come back?" Answer, none. He said "60 couples come back to home port."
@@epramos6800, no no no, it's 151 men, 75 happy couples, and one grump. I spent roughly three years underwater in total, riding missile boats. I'd tell that joke later on in civilian life...always pissed off a fellow submariner at the same workplace. I told the other folks that he was #151.
@@epramos6800, aye, absolutely. It always kinda cracked me up to find a guy what couldn't take a joke...opens up endless possibilities. It gets pretty boring down there...
Great piece! My Dad served on SC711 and PC610 1945-46. He’d gone through the V-12 program and entered active duty as an ensign in March ‘45. A couple years ago I donated a box of his WWII papers, letters, photos, etc to the Patrol Craft Sailor’s Association’s archives Bay City, MI.
10:10 I'd be interested to hear more details about that story. While the US Navy has a lot to be proud of, it also has a lot to be ashamed of when it comes to the way it treats guys like that.
Once the U.S. Navy put to sea the "Hunter Killer" groups ... (baby flattops and DD's) U-Boats truly became the hunted. The capture of U505 bears that out. But well earned Bravo Zulu to the crews of the PC's and the SC's.
Herbert Claudius...... So sad you never got the recognition you so greatly deserved. What a hero you are. To accomplish this and then be treated this way, yet you stayed in the Navy. Straight hero.
I love you and your videos, but i have to say that the original intro with the friendly music was better, good thing that your videos make up for it :)
Thank you for a very good video on Sub Chasers. They deserve credit for the job well done. I enjoy your videos a great deal. I am an old US Navy man and i really appreciate your work. Thanks again.
It gives me no pleasure to say this but the Admiral in charge of your Atlantic fleet was an Anglophobe. We had been fighting the Uboats for years and it was the greatest threat that Britain faced in WW2. Your navy refused to take any advice from the Royal Navy on how to meet this threat, refusing to take even the elementary precaution of convoying your ships. Hundreds of American sailors drowned within sight of your shores as the brightly lit cities silhouetted their ships, making them a perfect target for Uboats. Convoying your ships, learning from our ASDIC and radar technology, adopting " Hedgehogs" and our hunter/ killer tactics, all helped defeat this menace, but it was a lesson learned that cost the lives of too many American sailors.
Actually ... as far as Radar is concerned - the Army Radar Operators at Pearl Harbor - had been trained by the British (iirc) in the Panama Canal Zone. The problem was - that while the operators had been trained - their superiors had not and had no idea what to do with the technology. They were making steps to correct this - and in fact had an information center set up the operators called in their report of the attacking Japanese aircraft to - but - the officer in charge had it in his head that these were a flight of B-17's. We had no civilian observation corp at the time to confirm radar sightings and no patrolling Combat Air Patrol - so - despite the efforts of the radar crew to convince the call center that the blip was to large to be a few B-17's - the Peace Time Mentality that "Oh ... we can't be being attacked ..." prevailed and like the Ward's sinking of a Japanese mini-sub trying to enter the harbor mouth - it was ignored. One thing I will point out though - is that the Americans were not the only ones who refused to adapt what they were doing for far to long. For example - the British continued to use 3 plane Vic's long after the Luftwaffe had demonstrated to them - that the Finger Four flights were a superior tactical formation and the Japanese took longer still. A further example would be the loss of the Prince of Wales and Repulse, despite indications that operating Battleships without air cover was a bad idea from such as the sinking of the Bismarck. Another point here - is that a lot of the reason Anglophobes exist - is because of the Condescending attitudes of the Anglophiles. Treat other people with arrogant disdain and it doesn't take long before they learn to tune you out and ignore anything you have to say. As to King himself being an Anglophobe ... I'm not sure he disliked the British that much more than he did anyone else. The man certainly was an ass hole but ... he was pretty much an ass hole to everyone. I will concede though that perhaps he was a bigger ass hole towards the British and somewhat less of an ass hole - while still being an ass hole - to others. Despite his ass holeness though the man did learn and adapt. .
@@BobSmith-dk8nw Swaings and roundaboiuts, don't forget the British also taught the US code breacking and Sigint techniques, including the development of Bombes and Colossous to breack japanese codes. I won't voice an opinion on the IBM claim to the First electronic computer.
This is incredible!! I consider myself as a history nut!! Especially United States Navy history!! Yet, I never knew about these warships!!! WOW!! Those sailors were extraordinarily brave!! Thank you, shipmates, for your incredible, implacable duties!! 🫡🫡🫡🫡 Fair winds and, following seas, shipmates!! 🫡🫡🫡🫡
My Dad was a sonarman on a Coast Guard Sub Chaser early in the war. The Navy was so ill-prepared at the onset of the war, they didn't even have depth charges. He spent most of the time up near Greenland.
Two other books you might enjoy The Shetland Bus by David J Howarth, that deals with the Shetland -Norway routes, and the attack on Tirpitz. The Battle of the Narrow Seas by Peter Scott, that deals with the RN coastal boats , MTB's MGB's and the Steam Gun Boats in the English Channel. Scott is better known for the Slimbridge Wildfowl Trust in Norfolk, and was also an artist. All the illustrations of the book are drawn or painted by him.
This reminded me of Chain Rock in The Narrows of St John's harbour in Newfoundland. It was used to string out anti-submarine nets after a German U-boat attack. Lots of forgotten history in that narrow channel: Signal Hill and the "first" wireless reception by Marconi, the Queen's battery, Fort Amherst, and of course chain rock. Might make a good episode?
Thank you so very much for this segment on Subchasers. My dad was a crewmember on PC1192 a 461 class during WWII. He served in the South Atlantic near Bermuda. He never talked about his service, except for the fun parts.
Thank you for this video. My father began his Navy service in WW2 on a SC based out of Bermuda. He later “doubled” the size of his ship when he shifted to LSM 312, taking it from Chicago through the Panama Canal and eventually to Tokyo. The stories of the smaller Navy ships are well worth telling.
My great uncle was a sub chaser skipper. He spent 1942-1943 patrolling the east coast around Florida and the keys. In 1944 his boat was put aboard a ship and taken to Scotland where he patrolled the east coast of Britain down to the English Channel. On D-Day his boat was at Utah Beach as a courier between generals on ships in the channel and the Army on the beach. He took fire that day. In days after D-Day he had the unenviable job of fishing dead soldiers out of the channel. Latter in 1944 he was assigned to the Pacific. He was shipped out to Iwo Jima. He patrolled between Iwo Jima and Chi Chi Jima searching for downed US aircrews. His boasts were SC1139 and SC1330
History Guy could you cover the B17 bomber crash on the 1st of June 1944, it occurred in my city of Belfast. The crashed due to heavy fog and lost their course, crashing into a mountain. All men lost. 50 years later a man walking his dog, found a ring. A gold ring. Ending up belonging to the waist gunner on board the B17 who was recently married and the ring was actually finally returned to his widow in 1995 i believe. Extraordinary.
I never get enough of history. Especially when told by The History Guy and even more so when speaking if ear. I often have my 13 year old son watch your streams
History Guy, you are to be commended for the research that you do in the, sometimes small amount of time, to put together these presentations. You sir, should be Knighted for your work!
My late father served in the USCG in the North Atlantic convoy escort and the Atlantic coast ASW patrol. That vessel that made the kill was named the "Athena". My father served aboard her sister-ship, the "Nike".
The Nike was a Thetis Class Patrol Boat, but there was no Athena that I can find. The Thetis class vessels USCG Icarus and USCG Thetis both scored U-boat kills. The story of Icarus is here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-pryLh2ZqR7Y.html
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel that comes from a book I gave my father before his death. I thought that I had gotten that book when he passed but can't find it anywhere. Forgive my faulty memory. Thank you so much for the link to the Thetis class vessels.
I remember in New Jersey at Port Newark in the mid 60s, when a sub chaser was docked there and they let the public go on it and a sailor gave us a tour of it.
My father was in the US Coast Guard during WWII & served on a sub chasing. He passed in 2009. Looking thru his old Coast Guard documents & pictures we're of the understanding he was on the USS Newport but we can't find any information regarding that ship. Could you help us find information regarding this ship and it's service in the Atlantic during WWII? Thanks
USS Newport, (PF-27) was a Tacoma Class frigate that did patrolling off the east coast from September '44 until July '45. The ships of the Tacoma Class were manned by Coast Guard crews. The ship itself ended up serving with both the Russian and the Japanese navies. There are a couple of photos here: www.navsource.org/archives/12/08027.htm
Thank you for the awesome video another item of history i have not heard of i have heard of DEs and DDs but never heard of these subchasers i love these little tidbits of histories you put out it make a great start in the Morning
@@dariorazum6121 The Flowers Class sometimes called the Gladioli class afte rthe lead ship. A lot built in Canada.They heavily influenced the 1950' 60's and in Sea Cadet use 1970's class of Ton Minesweepers in the RN.
Great info my late father was a sonar man on pcs1460. In the pacific they removed the 40mm mount to erect a radio shack to better communicate with the people on shore.they got no subs but didbag two Japanese planes of okinawa
Love your stuff! Especially when you do military history.. I'm a big military history guy, and when you do military history it's very accurate and educational.. Thank you for your dedication and love for history it makes what you do exciting, captivating, and interesting to watch......
Thanks for this video. In the mid 1960s I spent some time on a naval reserve training ship stationed at Chicago on Lake Michigan. I was just out of boot camp and waiting to move on to the "real" fleet. She was the USS Worland PCE845 and my first experience on a ship. Good times!
Thanks for this episode! My father served on PC 462 in the Pacific starting in 1943 (Leyte Gulf, Okinawa, and others) His ship was the one that send the radio message about the death of Ernie Pyle in Okinawa as they were close ashore and was the first ship the correspondents reporting the story could reach.
My uncle was an engine man on a sub chaser in WWII. The funniest story was dumping a case of contraband scotch out a porthole before an inspection. The most interesting was about thier radio man. Sub chasers are tiny boats and the radio man was constantly seasick. So much so, he had to keep a trashcan near the radios to throw up in. Many years later, I was doing some online research about an actor. Turns out he'd been a radio operator on a sub chaser and was constantly seasick. The actor? Lee Van Cleef. Same man? Who knows. My uncle had died many years before, so I couldn't confirm. Interstingly, my uncle said the seasick man was transfered to an even smaller ship. Van Cleef was transfered to a mine sweeper.
I always remember PC 1264, as its wreck is clearly visible to this day in a Staten Island boat graveyard. Its too bad it is probably long beyond saving.
Fascinating! I never knew the full extent of the service of these vessels, but I did know of Admiral Samuel Gravely getting his 'feet wet' on one of them. Also, not too surprised that L. Ron Hubbard was on a hard luck ship. Weirdness seemed to follow him around like a bad odor. Love theses stories THG. Great stuff.
