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NavSource Online:
Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

USCGC Air Falcon (WAVR 421)
ex-USS SC-653



Call sign:
Nan - William - Sugar - Baker

ex-USS SC-653

SC-653 served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard.
SC-497 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 15 December 1941 by Julius Peterson, Nyack, NY
  • Launched 18 April 1942
  • Delivered 8 July 1942 and commissioned USS PC-653
  • Reclassified SC-653 in April 1943
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard 30 October 1945 and commissioned USCGC Air Falcon (WAVR 421)
  • Sold 20 January 1948
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 100 t.
  • Length 110' 10"
  • Beam 17' 9"
  • Draft 6' 6"
  • Speed 21 kts.
  • Complement 28
  • Armament: One 40mm gun mount, two .50 cal. machine guns, two depth charge projector "Y Guns," and two depth charge tracks
  • 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
    SC-497 161k Exploded view of SC-497 class Subchaser. © 1997 Theodore R. Treadwell
    There is no DANFS history available for SC-653
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