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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

SC-718



Call sign:
Nan - Xray - Fox - Dog

ex-PC-718


SC-718 served the Navies of the United States and Norway.
SC-497 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 22 September 1942 as PC-718 by Fisher Boat Works, Detroit, MI
  • Launched 31 March 1943
  • Reclassified SC-718 in April 1943
  • Commissioned USS SC-718, 25 May 1943
  • Transferred to Norway 12 October 1945 and named HNoMS Hitra
  • Transfered to the State Department, Foreign Liquidation Commission in June 1948
  • Decommissioned in 1958.
  • SC-718 still exists in Norway as a Norwegian Royal Navy vessel, the "Hitra." During the war the U.S. loaned three American-built subchasers to occupied Norway under the lend-lease program and late
    in the war transferred ownership of the three vessels to Norway permanently. Throughout the war they were used in an operation called the "Shetlands Bus", a ferrying service between Norway and the Shetlands Isles which, at high risk, transported secret agents and communications equipment into Norway to enable them to keep track of German navy movements all along the Norwegian coast. On return trips the subchasers would take key Norwegian personnel back to the Shetlands and to freedom. After the war the three subchasers eventually disappeared. But in 1981 the 718 named Hitra was accidentally discovered half sunk in a Swedish ship's graveyard. A movement began to restore her and this was eventually done. Today the Hitra operates as a full fledged subchaser fitted out and equipped exactly as she was during the war, and used for exhibit, education, reunions, etc. Her ship's bell still carries the faint engraving of "SC 718" as a reminder of her American roots. She is based in Bergen, Norway.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 83 t.
  • Length 110' 10"
  • Beam 17'
  • Draft 6' 6" (fl)
  • Speed 21 kts.
  • Complement 28
  • Armament: One 40mm gun mount, one or two twin mount .50 cal. machine guns, two or three depth charge projectiles "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. (In 2000, having trouble getting replacement parts for these engines, they were replaced with a pair of
    V-8 Mercedes 550 h.p. diesel engines with Twin Disc gear boxes. Said to run very smoothly with little noise. The pitch of the props had to be adjusted to bring the ship up to 15 kts. speed. The original General Motors 16-184's have been placed into protective storage).
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS SC-718
    SC-718 163k 7 October 1943
    Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    Views showing method used in lashing and securing subchaser on deck of Liberty Ship Willard Hall
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photos 111-SC-183764 and 111-SC-183765 from the National Archives    		 Dan Treadwell
    SC-718 134k
    SC-718 265k 7 October 1943
    Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    Cradle on deck of Willard Hall where PC-718 was stowed.
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 111-SC-183768 from the National Archives
    SC-718 151k 7 October 1943
    Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    Being swung out toward water by floating crane from deck of Liberty Ship Willard Hall.
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 111-SC-202003 from the National Archives
    SC-718 156k 7 October 1943
    Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    Close up of Subchaser held in the air by huge 120 ton floating crane, showing how sling was adjusted. Cross bar on cable swing weighs eight tons. Ship in the background is HMS Drury (K 316), ex-BDE-46.
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 111-SC-202002 from the National Archives
    SC-718 189k 7 October 1943
    Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    Being swung out toward water by floating crane from deck of Liberty Ship Willard Hall. The stern of HMS Bentinck (K 314), ex-Bull (DE 52) is on the left and HMS Drury
    (K 316)     is in the background
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 111-SC-183766 from the National Archives
    SC-718 123k 7 October 1943
    Pollock Dock, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
    Placed gently in the water alongside 120 ton floating crane.
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 111-SC-183767 from the National Archives
    HNoMS Hitra
    SC-718 89k c. 1983
    Hitra after being raised from her muddy grave at Karlskrona, Sweden
    Royal Norwegian Navy Museum photo from "Splinter Fleet" by Theodore R. Treadwell    		 Robert Hurst
    SC-718 23k . Photo courtesy Tom Kjode
    via T. R. Treadwell Splinter Fleet website
    Hitra 86k Photo enhanced by Tom Kermen
    SC-718 80k .
    SC-718 46k . Robert Hurst
    SC-718 64k Royal Norwegian Navy photo from the 1958/1958 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    SC-718 109k c. 1998
    Hitra underway fully restored, in her home port of Bergen, Norway
    Photo from "Splinter Fleet" by Theodore R. Treadwell
    SC-718 212k c. June 2003
    Scalloway, Shetland Islands, Scotland
    Photo by Salmanazar
    There is no DANFS history available for SC-718
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    "Subchaser in the South Pacific"
    by CAPT J. Henry Doscher, USN, Ret.
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Type Index Back to the 110' Submarine Chaser (SC) Photo Index
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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