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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

Towanda (PC 592)
ex-PC-592



Call sign:
November - Alpha - Lima - Xray
PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 31 March 1942 by the Dravo Corp., Pittsburgh, PA
  • Launched 27 June 1942
  • Commissioned USS PC-592, 28 November 1942
  • Played active role in South Atlantic conducting escort and patrol duties under Vice Admiral Jonas H. Ingram’s U.S. South Atlantic Force, U.S. Fourth Fleet based at Recife, Brazil
  • On 9 March 1943, picked up survivors from the American merchant ships, SS James K. Polk, SS James Smith and SS Mark Hanna that were torpedoed and damaged by the German submarine U-510 about 175 nautical miles
    north of Cayenne, French Guyana in position 07º40'N 52º07'W
  • On 28 May 1943, picked up 69 survivors from the American tanker SS Florida that was torpedoed and damaged by the German submarine U-154 about 125 miles east of Fortaleza, Brazil in position 03º56'S 36º43'W
  • Placed in service as a Naval Reserve Training vessel in July 1946 in the 6th Naval District (Charleston)
  • Decommissioned in January 1950 at Norfolk, VA
  • Named Towanda 15 February 1956
  • Struck from the Navy Register 1 April 1959
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 450 t.
  • 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 Hooven-Owen-Rentschler R-99DA diesel engines (Serial No. 6815 and 6816), Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PC-592 72k The Commanding Officer, LT W. T. Coyle, ENS Gladson, QM3/c Landers, and S1/c Severns admire the art work of V. T. Hamlin, creator of the comic strip "Alley Oop."
    Photo from the Vincent T. Hamlin Archives.    		 Margaret A. Howell
    University of Missouri-Columbia Libraries
    PC-592 Crew 60k PC-592 crew photo. From left to right:
    First row: Chevlier S2/c, ENS Hyde, LT Hess, LT Coyle (Commanding Officer), LTJG Ross, ENS Gladson,
    Severns S1/c.
    Second row: Chiaro S2/c, Goff SoM3/c, Anderson SM2/c, Landers QM3/c, Morrison-Coxswain, Bosco S2/c, Eckberg MoMM2/c, Hinds S2/c, Johnson Matt3/c, Crane S2/c.
    Third row: McClaren SF2/c, Brooks EM2/c, Granville MoMM2/c, Allen PhM1/c, Nichols SK3/c, Burford EM2/c,
    Pitt GM3/c.
    Fourth row: Lyman QM3/c, McRae GM2/c, Collier S2/c, Blodgett SC2/c, Conloy SC2/c, Marrula F3/c, Weisgerber S2/c, Odell MM1/c, Cronk MM1/c, Cohen S2/c, Caverlee Y3/c.
    Fifth row: McFerrin SoM2/c, Grillo S2/c, Polin S2/c, Putnam SM3/c, Hawk S2/c, Luevans SM3/c, Cross MM2/c, Cole F3/c, Tierney S2/c. Sixth row: Beth S2/c, Davis Matt2/c, Dietz-Coxswain, Digby BM2/c, Greene F1/c, Shepherd MM2/c, Dokin MM2/c, Gross S2/c, Welter SoM3/c, Haynes F1/c.
    Photo from the Vincent T. Hamlin Archives.
    PC-592 130k c. 1948
    New York Harbor
    Naval Reserve duty    		 Bob Daly/PC-1181
    There is no DANFS History currently available for Towanda (PC 592)
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