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NavSource Online:
Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

PC-550



Call sign: November - Bravo - Sierra - Bravo



PC-550 served the Navies of the United States and France.

PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser: Laid down, 6 June 1941 by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Co., Sturgeon Bay, WI; Launched, 8 March 1942; Commissioned USS PC-550, 28 April 1942. During World War II, PC-550 was assigned to the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Caribbean theaters and took part in the following operations: Sicilian occupation, 9 - 15 July and 29 July - 17 August 1943; Salerno landings, 9 - 12 September 1943; West coast of Italy operations, 1944; and the Anzio Netturno advanced landings, 22 January 1944 and 25 February - 1 March 1944. Decommissioned and transferred to France, 15 June 1944 at Oran, Algeria; Renamed Le Vigilant (W 62); Struck from the Naval Register, 8 January 1959 and scrapped.

Specifications: Displacement 280 t.(lt) , 450 t.(fl); Length 175'; Beam 23'; Draft 10' 10"; Speed; 20k; Complement six officers, 53 enlisted; Armament one single 3"/50 gun mount, one single 40mm gun mount; three 20mm guns, two rocket launchers, four depth charge projectiles, two depth charge tracks; Propulsion two General Motors 16-258S diesel engines (Serial No. 6321 and 6322), two shafts.

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For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Source
PC-550 27k 7 March 1942. Launching at Sturgeon Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Institute Photo.
Bob Daly/PC-1181

There is no DANFS History currently available for PC-550 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
"PC Patrol Craft of World War II"
by William J. Veigele, Ph.D, USNR, Ret. PC-793


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