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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

PC-1603
ex-Force (AM 99)



PC-1603 call sign:
November - Alpha - Kilo - Golf

Destroyed 24 October 1945

Adroit Class Minesweeper: Laid down, 19 November 1941 by the Penn-Jersey Corp., Camden, NJ; Launched, 7 September 1942; Commissioned, USS Force (AM 99), 16 June 1943; Reclassified a Submarine Chaser PC-1603, 1 June 1944. On 26 May 1945, while anchored in Kimmu Wan, Okinawa,
PC-1603 was struck by two Kawasaki "Tony" kamikaze aircraft. The first hit the bow at the water line and the second hit the bow at deck level. Three lives were lost and 15 wounded mostly from burns. On 21 June 1945 she was decommissioned and towed to the ship grave yard at Kerama Retto. The hulk was ordered destroyed on 24 October 1945. The hull was incorporated in the building of a breakwater/dock and officially donated to the Government of the Ryuku Islands on 10 July 1957. PC-1603 was awarded three battle stars for the Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa landings.

Specifications: Displacement 890 t.; Length 221' 3"; Beam 32'; Draft 10' 9"; Speed 14 kts; Complement 105; Armament one single 3"/50 gun mount, two 40mm gun mounts, eight 20mm guns, two depth charge tracks, five depth charge projectiles; Propulsion two 1,440 bhp Busch-Sulzer BS 539 diesel engines (Serial No. 1147 & 1148), two shafts.

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Size Image Description Source
Force 84k The last of the Adroit-class minesweepers, the Force (AM-99), is seen in a builder's trials photo five days before her commissioning on 16 May 1943. As completed, the Adroits carried a 3-inch, 50-caliber Mk 22 dual-purpose gun forward and no main-deck gun aft; initially they were fitted with one 20-mm antiaircraft gun atop the pilothouse and two more abreast the mast, but later units received four 20-mm mounts. For antisubmarine duties, they were given two Mk 7 depth-charge racks. Naval History Magazine
August 2002 issue
PC-1603 105k PC-1603 Bob Daly/PC-1181
PC-1603 59k PC-1603 Hyperwar US Navy in WW II

View the Force (AM 99) / PC-1603
DANFS history entry located on 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
Naval Minewarfare Association
Association of Minemen
Patrol Craft Sailors Association

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