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NavSource Online:
Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

PC-550



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - Sugar - Baker



PC-550 served the Navies of the United States and France.
PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 6 June 1941 by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, WI
  • Launched 7 March 1942
  • Commissioned USS PC-550, 28 April 1942
  • During World War II, PC-550 was assigned to the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean theaters and took part in the following operations:
    Sicilian occupation, 9 - 15 July and 29 July - 17 August 1943
    Salerno landings, 9 - 12 September 1943
    West coast of Italy operations in 1944, and
    Anzio Netturno advanced landings, 22 January 1944 and 25 February - 1 March 1944
  • Decommissioned 13 June 1944, transferred to France and named L'Vigilant (W 62) at Oran, Algeria
  • Reclassified P-621 in 1952
  • Struck from the Naval Register 8 January 1959 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: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, one 40mm gun mount, three 20mm guns, two rocket launchers, four depth charge projectors and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion two 1,440bhp General Motors 16-258S diesel engines (Serial No. 6321 and 6322), Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PC-550
    PC-550 51k 7 March 1942
    Launching at Sturgeon Bay, WI
    Great Lakes Institute photo    		 Bob Daly/PC-1181
    L'Vigilant (P 621)
    PC-550 76k Photo by Marine Nationale Robert Hurst
    There is no DANFS History currently available for PC-550
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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