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NavSource Online:
Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

PC-559



Call sign:
Nan - Easy - Charlie - Queen


PC-559 served the Navies of the United States and France
PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 14 October 1941 by the Jeffersonville Boat and Machine Co., Jeffersonville, IN
  • Launched 2 January 1942
  • Commissioned USS PC-559, 12 May 1942
  • Assigned to the Caribbean Sea Frontier, Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea. Took part in the following operations:
    Tunisian operations, 8 November 1942 - 9 July 1943
    Sicilian occupation, 9 - 15 July and 29 July - 17 August 1943
    Salerno landings, 9 - 23 September 1943
    West Coast of Italy operations, 1944
    Anzio-Nettuno Advanced Landings, 13 - 21 January, 25 - 27 January, 2 February, 6 - 10 February, and 17 - 29 February 1944
  • Decommissioned 6 October 1944 at Toulon, France, transferred to France and named Voltigeur (W 103)
  • Struck from the Navy Register 12 March 1970 and sold for scrap
  • PC-559 earned a Presidential Unit Commendation for World War II service.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 280 t.(lt), 450 t.(fl)
  • Length 173' 8"
  • Beam 23'
  • Draft 10' 10"
  • Speed 20 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. 6331 and 6332), Farrel-Birmingham reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PC-559 88k 2 January 1942
    Launching    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 6 January 2021
    PC-559 85k Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LT John Robert Cain, Jr., USNR - Awarded the Silver Star (1943) and the Legion of Merit (1943)1944
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PC-559
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Index Back to the Submarine Chaser (PC) Photo Index
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    This page created and maintained by Joseph M. Radigan
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