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 Blaze (WPC 336)



Blaze call sign:
Nan - Oboe - Baker - Able

ex-USS SC-231



Call sign (1919):
George - Cast - Boy - Quack

Call sign (1924):
Nan - Oboe - Pup - Quack

SC-231 served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard

SC-1 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Built at the New York Yacht, Launch and Engine Co., Morris Heights, NY
  • Commissioned USS SC-231, 8 February 1918
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard 18 August 1942
  • Commissioned USCGC Blaze (WPC 336), 15 January 1943
  • Struck from the Navy list 21 April 1944
  • Decommissioned 25 September 1944
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration for disposal 8 March 1946
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 85 t.
  • Length 110'
  • Beam 14' 9"
  • Draft (fl) 5' 8"
  • Speed 18 kts.
  • Complement 27
  • Armament: One 3"/23 gun mount, two .30 cal. machine guns, and one depth charge projector "Y Gun"
  • Propulsion: Three 220hp Standard gasoline engines, three shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS SC-231
    SC-57, 231 & 328 107k Picture postcard published by the Asheville Postcard Co.
    Asheville, NC    		 Paul Harig
    EM1/c, USS LCI 454, WWII
    SC-231 438k 10 July 1925
    Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, VA
    National Archives photo 52560171    		 Michael Mohl
    USCGC Blaze (WPC 336)
    SC-231 111k c. 1943
    St. Augustine, FL    		 David J. Morris
    via Bob Morris
    SC-231 56k
    SC-231 53k
    Commanding Officers
    01ENS Harry E. Leonard, USNRF1918 - 1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    Coast Guard Cutter History: The Navy transferred the Blaze to the Coast Guard on 18 August 1942. She was sent to the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore for rearmament, which was ultimately undertaken by the Oxford Boat Yard, Inc., of Oxford, Maryland, at a cost of $27,799. Due to a shortage of "critical components," the rearmament was not completed until January, 1943. Blaze was then commissioned on 15 January 1943 and assigned to the Gulf Sea Frontier. Blaze was stationed at Miami and primarily conducted anti-submarine and escort of convoy patrols. One escort of convoy voyage was undertaken from Cape Henry, escorting merchant vessels, in concert with the SC-1066, in March, 1943.

    By mid-1943, her material condition had deteriorated to the point that urgent and extensive repairs were needed to keep her seaworthy. Headquarters decided that the cost of repairing the vessel was prohibitive and instead, made a few minor repairs and then transferred her, on 23 July 1943, to the Coast Guard training Station at St. Augustine, Florida for duty as a training vessel. Here in the sheltered waters of St. Augustine, her "unseaworthy condition" would not be a problem and she could be immediately utilized for "urgently needed training purposes."

    On 5 September 1944 she was ordered to be delivered to the 6th Naval District for storage at Bucksport, South Carolina. She arrived there on 24 September 1944 and was decommissioned the next day and placed into storage. Blaze was transferred to the War Shipping Administration on 8 March 1946 for final disposal.

    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