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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive
SC-718

SC-718 call sign:
November - Xray - Foxtrot - Delta

SC-718 served the Navies of the United States and Norway.
SC-497 Class Submarine Chaser: Laid down 22 September 1942 by the Fisher Boat Works, Detroit, MI; Launched 31 March 1943; Commissioned USS SC-718, 25 May 1943; Decommissioned, (date unknown); Struck from the Naval Register, (date unknown); Transferred to Norway 12 October 1945; Renamed KNM Hitra; 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 98 t; Length 110' 10"; Beam 17' 11"; Max. Draft 6' 6"(fl); Speed 15.6 or 21k; Complement 3 officers 24 enlisted; Armament one single 3"/50 or one single 40mm Bofor gun mount, one or two twin mount .50 cal. machine gun(s), two or three dcp "K Guns", 14 depth charges with six single release chocks, two sets MK20 Mousetrap rails with four 7.2 projectiles; Propulsion, two General Motors 16-184A "pancake" engines; Endurance 1500 nm @ 12 kts.
Click On Image
For Full Size Image |
Size |
Image Description |
Source |
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23k |
Seen here as Norwegian KNM Hitra |
Photo courtesy Tom Kjode via T. R. Treadwell Splinter Fleet web site |
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86k |
Seen here as Norwegian KNM Hitra. Photo enhanced by Tom Kermen |
Photo courtesy Tom Kjode via T. R. Treadwell Splinter Fleet web site |
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80k |
Seen here as Norwegian KNM Hitra |
Photo courtesy Tom Kjode via T. R. Treadwell Splinter Fleet web site |
There is no DANFS history available for SC-718 at the Haze Gray & Underway Web Site, the main archive for the DANFS Online Project.
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation
Fleet Reserve Association
Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Patrol Craft Sailors Association
Splinter Fleet: The Wooden Subchasers of World War II
"Subchaser in the South Pacific"
by CAPT J. Henry Doscher, USN, Ret.
This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joe Radigan
© 2005 Joseph M. Radigan © 1996 - 2005 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.
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