Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

USCGC Air Gull (WAVR 427)
ex-USS SC-672



Call sign:
Nan - William - Victor - Baker

ex-USS PC-672


SC-672 served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard
SC-497 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 29 October 1941 by the Thomas Knutson Shipbuilding Corp., Halesite, Long Island, NY
  • Launched 2 May 1942
  • Delivered 22 June 1942 and commissioned USS PC-672
  • Reclassified SC-672 in April 1943
  • Decommissioned 28 August 1945
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard 11 October 1945 and commissioned USCGC Air Gull (WAVR 427)
  • Struck from the Naval Register 16 November 1945
  • Acquired in 1950 by Beaufort By-Products Co., Inc. of Lennoxville, NC for use as a fishing boat and renamed Ensign
  • Acquired in 1961 by Ensign Inc. of Beaufort
  • Scrapped in 1975.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 100 t.
  • Length 110' 10"
  • Beam 17'
  • 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-672 372k From the collection of LTJG O. Patrick Hudson, USNR, Executive Officer SC-672 Patrick R. Hudson
    SC-672 357k
    SC-672 180k . Jeff Duncan
    SC-672 181k
    .. and so, I went aboard this Sub Chaser. No they didn't go under the water. At least not on purpose they didn't. Sure we had guns. A 40 mm and two 20 mm. You have heard of depth chargers but how about Mouse Traps? Well they were little rockets that set on launching ramps and were fired by electricity. Oh they would go about the length of a football field. Yah they were a good idea but I doubt that they were ever used. You see they had to be armed and the little ground wire broken, which means the sub had to be slower than your SC.

    I'm glad you asked, son. We went into the Charleston Navy Yard. No the one in Boston Harbor. Don't interrupt now.

    We had broken the socket for our jack staff - that's the flag that's blue with white stars-I don't know, why but any way the socket sat on top of the bull nose that's right, just like on our sail boat. Well to make a long story -ok I will. Don't interrupt.

    The welder that they sent brought an electric welding machine with him. He clamped his ground wire to the flashing and struck on the bull nose. You're right. Only three took off, right over his head. They went about a hundred yards where they hit a brick wall. No, he didn't seem to be hurt but it drew a crowd especially Union stewards. The powers that ran the yard directed us to proceed to the ammo dump where we unloaded all our depth charges, etc. returned to the Yard where they brazed the socket back in place and then back and reloaded our ammo. Yes they replaced the rockets.

    Lt. jg. USNR Patrick Hudson
    (from Hudson Family Stories)

    Photos from the collection of LTJG Patrick Hudson, USNR, Executive Officer, USS SC-672
    Contributed by Patrick R. Hudson

    (If you know the identity of any of these crew members, please send an email with their names)
    Click on thumbnail for full size photo


    1. Commanding Officer, LT James C. Crocker, USNR

    2.

    3. ENS Hudson

    4. ENS Hudson

    5.

    6. Stewards Mate Phillips

    7.

    8.

    9.

    10. Clearing snow

    11. Crewmember Green is on the left

    12. "Me and my boys the day we won the firing competition."
    ENS Hudson, second from right

    13.

    14.

    15.

    Photos contributed by Jeff Duncan
    (If you know the identity of any of these crew members, please send an email with their names)

    Click on thumbnail for full size photo


    1. PhM1c Morris Lane Young

    2. 40mm gun crew
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Joseph C. Crooker, USNR22 July 1942
    ??LTJG Patrick Hudson, USNR
    Courtesy HMC James T. Flynn, Jr., USNR, Ret. and Patrick R. Hudson
    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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History