PC Patrol Craft of World War II
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During World War II, Germany’s U-boat campaign was strangling the United Kingdom by cutting off her supplies from the United States. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States joined this Battle of the Atlantic.
The United States Navy, desperate to halt the carnage, needed more antisubmarine ships. Destroyers took too long to build, so the Navy built PCs.
More than three hundred PCs went to war. Nearly fifty thousand men served on them. They hunted, damaged, and sank U-boats. PCs were rough riders but rugged ships, and their depth charge attacks helped defeat the U-boats. Then, they crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Many became control ships that led the landing craft in most invasions.
During their battles, the crews sent submarines to the bottom, blasted aircraft from the skies, and sank small ships. Nevertheless, they suffered losses of ships and men.
After the war, most PCs went to scrap yards. Some continued their duty in the U. S. and other Navies for decades. Now, only a few decaying skeletons remain of the PC fleet. There is an organization, the Patrol Craft Sailors Association, and a book tells their story. It is listed on Navy Knowledge Online.
