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NavSource Online:
Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

USCGC Air Curlew (WAVR 417)
ex-USS SC-540



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - Dog - Yankee

ex-PC-540


SC-540 served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard.


SC-497 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 28 July 1941 by the Robinson Marine Construction Co., Benton Harbor, MI
  • Launched 6 April 1942
  • Delivered 22 April 1942 and commissioned USS PC-540
  • Reclassified SC-540 in April 1943
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard 18 August 1945
  • Commissioned USCGC Air Curlew (WAVR 417), 11 October 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register 28 November 1945
  • Sold 9 February 1948
  • Sold in 1952 to the estate of Samuel Katz (Manfred W. Ehrich, Executor) of Port Chester, NY and renamed Barbara Jo
  • Sold in 1954 to the Henney Motor Co. of Stamford, CT and renamed Savitar
  • Acquired in 1958 by the Eureka Williams Corp. of Stamford CT for use as a yacht
  • Sold in 1961 to the Savitar Corp. of Miami Beach, FL
  • Removed from documentation in June 1966
  • Operated in 1967 under the Panamanian flag
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 95 t.
  • Length 110' 10"
  • Beam 17'
  • Draft 6' 6" (fl)
  • Speed 21 kts.
  • Complement 28
  • Armament: Oone 40mm mount, one twin .50 cal. machine gun, two "K Guns", 14 depth charges with six single release chocks and two sets Mk 20 Mousetrap rails with four 7.2 projectiles
  • Propulsion: Two 1,540bhp General Motors Electro-Motive Div. 16-184A diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image
    Size Image Description Source
    No image of SC-540 is available at this time

    Commanding Officers
    01ENS Daniel F. Larkin, Jr., USNR22 April 1942
    Courtesy Joe Radigan

    There is no DANFS history available for SC-540
    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 Index Back to the 110' Submarine Chaser (SC) Photo Index

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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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