USS PC-1181

Last updated
Wildwood PC-1181.jpg
USS PC-1181 off the coast of Belize, British Honduras before being decommissioned and named Wildwood
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameUSS PC-1181
BuilderGibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville, Florida
Cost$1,600,000 [1]
Laid down5 October 1942
Launched15 April 1943
Commissioned17 September 1943
Decommissioned18 August 1946
Renamed15 February 1956
Stricken1 April 1959
FateSold for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type PC-461-classsubmarine chaser
Displacement280 tons (light), 295 tons (full)
Length175 feet (53 meters)
Beam23 feet (7.0 meters)
Draft10 feet 10 inches (3.30 meters)
Installed power2 × Buda 844 six-cylinder diesels powering 60 KW — 120 volt DC generators [2]
Propulsion2 × Hamilton R-99DA diesel engines [2]
Speed20 knots
Endurance3,000 nautical miles @ 12 knots (5,600 km @ 22 km/h)
Complement
  • 6 officers,
  • 53 enlisted
Armament

USS PC-1181 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was later renamed Wildwood (PC-1181) but never saw active service under that name.

Career

PC-1181 was laid down on 5 October 1942 at Gibbs Gas Engine Co. in Jacksonville, Florida and launched on 15 April 1943. [3] She was commissioned as USS PC-1181 on 17 September 1943 at Charleston Navy Yard in Charleston, South Carolina. She was decommissioned on 18 August 1946 and given the name Wildwood on 15 February 1956. [3] She was never recommissioned and therefore did not have the USS prefix to her name while she was named Wildwood. [3] She was struck from the Navy Register on 1 April 1956 and sold for scrap. [3]

USS PC-1181 was fitted out at the Charleston Navy Yard and then reported for shakedown training out of Miami, Florida and later sonar and antisubmarine warfare training at the Fleet Sonar School at Key West. [4]

With her training complete, USS PC-1181 set out from Key West to escort Convoy KN-275 to New York City on 6 November 1943. The convoy successfully arrived on 11 November, Armistice Day. [4]

USS PC-1181 moored in between USS PC-1208 (left) and USS PC-1182 (right) in the Panama Canal. USS PC-1181 2.jpg
USS PC-1181 moored in between USS PC-1208 (left) and USS PC-1182 (right) in the Panama Canal.

The following week on 19 November, PC-1181 was charged with escorting Convoy NG-399 to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. One day out she suffered an oil leak and was put into Norfolk, Virginia to undergo repairs. The convoy proceeded without her. [4] Two days later, with repairs completed, USS PC-1181 resumed course and rejoined the convoy before it reached Guantanamo Bay on 27 November. [4]

On 30 November PC-1181 set sail for New York with Convoy GN-99, reaching her destination on 6 December. [4] She quickly set out to sea again, escorting Convoy NG-404 to Guantanamo Bay. She was tasked with breaking away from the convoy to escort a lagging merchant who had fallen behind from the rest of the convoy. PC-1181 didn't reach her destination until 20 December. [4]

PC-1181 set sail for New York once again on Christmas Day and arrived on New Year's Day, 1944. On 6 January, she set out with Convoy NG-409 to Guantanamo Bay, but once again broke away to stand by a disabled merchant ship, SS Beta which had developed engine problems. [4] After the merchant ship repaired her engines, both ships set course to rejoin the convoy. At 2132 hours on 12 January, PC-1181's sonar operators picked up a contact and began search operations. [4] However, another submarine chaser, PC-618 picked up an even stronger contact and PC-1181 was called off her search to assist PC-618 in her search. The search returned no results and both ships broke off the search to return to the convoy, completing the voyage on 15 January. [4]

PC-1181 continued escorting convoys between New York City and Guantanamo Bay. Her area of operation expanded to include convoys from Guantanamo Bay to the Panama Canal in May 1944. [4] As the war in the Atlantic and Europe drew to a close in the spring of 1945, the convoy system was disbanded as the need for military escorts became obsolete. [4]

USS PC-1181 pumping out bilge water. USS PC-1181.jpg
USS PC-1181 pumping out bilge water.

With the convoy system no longer needed, PC-1181 was reassigned to Submarine Squadron 3, serving as a target vessel during training missions for submarines operating in the Gulf of Mexico out of Panama. She continued operating in the gulf until the war with Japan ended in August 1945. With the war over, PC-1181 was reassigned to the defense forces of the Panama Canal. She conducted patrols and training operations out of Panama until June 1946. She was ordered back to Key West, arriving there on 13 July. She was later decommissioned there on 18 August 1946. [3]

As a decommissioned ship, PC-1181 served as a training ship for the Naval Reserve units in Key West and St. Petersburg, Florida, until 1950 when she was placed in reserve at Brownsville, Texas. Later, she was shifted to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet's berthing area at Norfolk, Virginia and was named Wildwood on 15 February 1956. [3] She was never commissioned as Wildwood. She was struck from the Navy Register on 1 April 1959 and sold for scrap. [3]

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Underhill</i> (DE-682) Buckley-class destroyer escort

USS Underhill (DE-682) was a Buckley-class destroyer escort of the United States Navy during World War II. Built in 1943, she served in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific until her sinking in a suicide attack by a Japanese Kaiten manned torpedo on 24 July 1945.

USS <i>Jacob Jones</i> (DD-130) Wickes-class destroyer

USS Jacob Jones (DD-130), named for Commodore Jacob Jones USN (1768–1850), was a Wickes-class destroyer. Jacob Jones was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey on 21 February 1918, launched on 20 November 1918 by Mrs. Cazenove Doughton, great-granddaughter of Commodore Jones and commissioned on 20 October 1919, Lieutenant Commander Paul H. Bastedo in command. She was sunk by a German submarine in 1942 during World War II.

USS <i>PC-1264</i>

USS PC-1264 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was one of only two U.S. Navy ships to have a predominantly African-American enlisted complement during the war, the other being the Evarts-class destroyer escortUSS Mason.

USS <i>Peterson</i> (DE-152)

USS Peterson (DE–152) was an Edsall class destroyer escort, the first United States Navy ship so named. This ship was named for Chief Water Tender Oscar V. Peterson (1899–1942), who was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

USS <i>Sarsfield</i> Gearing-class destroyer

USS Sarsfield (DD-837), was a Gearing-class destroyer of the United States Navy.

USS PC-586 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was later renamed Patchogue (PC-586), the second U.S. Navy ship of the name, but never saw active service under that name.

USS PC-1136 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. Shortly after the end of the war, she was renamed USS PCC-1136 when she was reclassified as a combat communications control ship. In 1956, she was renamed Galena (PC-1136), becoming the third U.S. Navy vessel so named, but never saw active service under that name.

USS PC-1137 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. Shortly after the end of the war, she was renamed USS PCC-1137 when she was reclassified as a combat communications control ship. In 1956, she was renamed Worthington (PC-1137) but never saw active service under that name.

USS PC-1141 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was renamed USS Pierre (PC-1141) in 1956, was decommissioned from the U.S. Navy in October 1958, and transferred to the Indonesian Navy as KRI Tjakalang.

USS <i>Thomas J. Gary</i> (DE-326)

USS Thomas J. Gary (DE-326) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort. The ship was renamed Thomas J. Gary on 1 January 1945 to free the name for planned light cruiser USS Gary (CL-147).

USS <i>Huse</i> (DE-145)

USS Huse (DE-145) was a U.S. Navy destroyer escort launched by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, Texas on 23 March 1943, during World War II. The ship was sponsored by Mrs. L. M. Humrichouse, daughter of Admiral Harry McLaren Pinckney Huse, whom the ship was named after and commissioned on 30 August 1943.

USS PC-465 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was later renamed Paragould (PC-465) but never saw active service under that name. In 1961 she was transferred to the Venezuelan Navy under the name ARV Pulpo (P-7). She remained active in Venezuelan service until 1968, when she was placed in reserve. She was stricken in 1978 but her ultimate fate is unknown.

USS <i>Gustafson</i> Cannon-class destroyer escort

USS Gustafson (DE-182) was a Cannon-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946. In 1950, she was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy where she served as Hr.Ms. Van Ewijck (F808) until 1967. She was scrapped in 1968.

USS <i>Blair</i> Edsall-class destroyer escort

USS Blair (DE-147) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1960. She was scrapped in 1974. Blair was named in honor of Chief Machinist's Mate Eugene Blair, who was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for his brave actions when his ship was attacked and bombed by Japanese planes near Port Darwin, Australia, in mid-February 1942.

USS <i>Sturtevant</i> (DE-239) Warship - destroyer escort of the United States Navy

USS Sturtevant (DE-239) was an Edsall class destroyer escort in service with the United States Navy from 1943 to 1946 and from 1951 to 1960. She was scrapped in 1973.

USS <i>Snowden</i> (DE-246)

USS Snowden (DE-246) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS <i>Stanton</i> (DE-247)

USS Stanton (DE-247) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS <i>Swasey</i> (DE-248)

USS Swasey (DE-248) was an Edsall-class destroyer escort built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She served in the Atlantic Ocean the Pacific Ocean and provided destroyer escort protection against submarine and air attack for Navy vessels and convoys.

USS PC-568 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was later named USS Altus (PC-568) in honor of Altus, Oklahoma, but never saw any active service under that name. After she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1963, she was transferred to the United States Air Force.

USS <i>Valiant</i> (PYc-51) Patrol vessel of the United States Navy

USS Valiant (PYc-51), originally USS PC-509, was a United States Navy patrol vessel in commission from 1941 to 1944.

References

  1. 1 2 Wild wood , retrieved 2008-12-20
  2. 1 2 Stories from the PC-1181 by Bob Daly, MoMM2/c, PC-1181 , retrieved 2008-12-20
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Submarine Chaser Photo Archive: Wildwood (PC 1181) , retrieved 2008-12-20
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Wildwood , retrieved 2008-12-20
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.