USS PC-815, a similar PC-416 class submarine chaser
History
United States
NameUSS PC-1261
Builder
Laid down20 November 1942
Launched28 February 1943
CommissionedMay 1943
FateSunk by shellfire off the coast of Normandy, 6 June 1944
Stricken29 July 1944
General characteristics
Class and typePC-461-class submarine chaser
Displacement
  • 280 long tons (280 t) (light)
  • 450 long tons (460 t) (full)
Length173 ft 8 in (52.93 m)
Beam23 ft (7.0 m)
Draft10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Installed power5,760 shp (4,300 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Fairbanks Morse 38D8 1/8 diesel engines
  • 1 × Westinghouse single reduction gear
  • 2 × shafts
Speed20 kn (23 mph; 37 km/h)
Complement65
Armament1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal dual purpose gun, 1 × 40 mm gun, 3 × 20 mm cannons, 2 × rocket launchers, 4 × depth charge throwers, 2 × depth charge tracks

USS PC-1261 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the first ship sunk during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, when she was hit by shellfire from German shore batteries.

Career

PC-1261 was laid down on 20 November 1942 by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and launched on 28 February 1943. She was commissioned in May 1943 and was sent to Europe and participated in the Normandy Landings.

On 6 June 1944, PC-1261 led the first wave of landing craft at Utah Beach. While en route to the beach, she was struck by an artillery shell and foundered. She was the first ship sunk on D-Day.

49°30′N 01°10′W / 49.500°N 1.167°W / 49.500; -1.167


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