PC-461 class submarine chaser

Class overview
Operators:	United States Navy  French Navy  Brazilian Navy  Uruguayan Navy  Royal Norwegian Navy  Royal Netherlands Navy  Hellenic Navy
Preceded by:	Protoytpe submarine chasers USS SC-451 and USS SC-452
Succeeded by:	PC-1610 class submarine chaser
Built:	1941-1944
Planned:	403
Completed:	343
Cancelled:	60
Active:	0
Lost:	8
General characteristics
Type:	Submarine chaser
Displacement:	450 tons
Length:	173 ft 8 in (53 m)
Beam:	23 ft 0 in (7 m)
Draft:	6 ft 2.5 in (2 m)
Propulsion:	2 x 2,880 bhp diesel engines 2 x shafts
Speed:	20.2 knots
Complement:	65
Armament:	Varies over time
Armor:	Steel hull

The PC-461 class submarine chasers were a class of 343 submarine chasers built mainly for the US Navy built from 1941-1944. The PC-461s were based primarily on two experimental submarine chasers, the PC-451 and PC-452. While PC-461 began the series, the first of the class to enter service was the PC-471. As part of the Lend-Lease program, 46 ships of this class were transferred to allies of the United States. Fifty-nine PC-461s were converted to other types of patrol vessels. Eight vessels of this class were lost, and one vessel was lost after conversion to a PGM-9 class motor gunboat. Only one PC-461 actually sank a submarine during World War II.

One member of this class, the USS PC-1264, was one of only two ships in the Navy during World War II that had a mostly African-American crew.

Lend-Lease program

As part of the Lend-Lease program enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a total of 46 PC-461s were lent to allies of the United States. Thirty-two were sent to France, 8 to Brazil, 1 to Uruguay, 1 to Norway, 1 to the Netherlands, and 1 to Greece.

Conversions

Twenty-four PC-461s were converted to patrol gunboats, motor (PGM) and 35 were converted into amphibious control craft (PCC).

See also

• List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy

References

• Friedman, Norman (1987). "US Small Combatants, Including PT-Boats, Subchasers, and the Brown-Water Navy: An Illustrated Design History"