Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

PC-543



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - Love - Oboe


PC-543 served the Navies of the United States and France.
PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 23 March 1942 by the Defoe Shipbuilding Corp., Bay City, MI
  • Launched 5 May 1942
  • Commissioned USS PC-543, 26 May 1942
  • PC-543 shot down two German bombers in 6 minutes off the landing beaches of Gela, Italy, 10 June 1943
  • Decommissioned 8 June 1944, transferred to France at Oran, Algeria and named Le Volontaire (W 61)Struck from the Navy Register 12 September 1964 and scrapped.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 280 t.(lt), 450 t.(fl)
  • Length 173' 8"
  • Beam 23'
  • Draft 10' 10"
  • Speed 20.2 kts.
  • Complement 65
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts, three 20mm guns, two Hedgehog rocket launchers, four depth charge projectors, and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 2,880bhp General Motors 16-258S diesel engines (Serial No. 6351 and 6352), Farrel-Birmingham reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS PC-543
    PC-543 459k National Archives photo Original photo: Hyperwar U.S. Navy in WWII
    Replacement photo: Joe Radigan
    Second Replacement photo: Bill Gonyo
    Le Volontaire (W 61)
    PC-543 80k . Robert Hurst
    There is no DANFS History currently available for PC-543
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Type Index Back to the Submarine Chaser (PC) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History