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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

Larchmont (PC 487)
ex-PC-487



Call sign:
November - Bravo - Tango - Alpha


Larchmont served the Navies of the United States and Venezuela
PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 6 December 1941 by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, New York, NY
  • Launched 28 February 1942
  • Commissioned USS PC-487, 2 June 1942
  • Damaged when she intentionally rammed and sank the Japanese submarine I-24, 10 June 1943, 40 miles north, north-east of Shemua Island, Aleutians, AK
  • Assigned as a Naval Reserve Training vessel in January 1947 at the 5th Naval District (Norfolk, VA)
  • Decommissioned 24 July 1947 at Portsmouth, VA and laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Norfolk Group
  • Named Larchmont 15 February 1956
  • Struck from the Navy Register 1 July 1960 and transferred to Venezuela
  • Fate unknown
  • PC-487 earned one battle star for World War II service. (Note: Among the medals awarded her crew were the Navy Cross, three Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit and a Navy Citation).

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 280 t.(lt), 450 t.(fl)
  • Length 173' 8"
  • Beam 23'
  • Draft 10' 10"
  • Speed 20.2 kts.
  • Complement 65
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, one 40mm gun mount; three 20mm guns, two rocket launchers, four depth charge projectors and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 1,440bhp Fairbanks Morse 38D8 1/8 diesel engines (Serial No. 832239 and 832240), Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PC-487 148k 28 February 1942
    Launching at Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, New York, NY
    National Archives photo    		 Dan Treadwell
    PC-487 187k
    PC-487 176k 28 February 1942
    Launching of PC-487 at Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., Morris Heights, New York, NY
    National Archives photo.    		 Original photo: James C. Pressley QM2/c
    PC-1226 via E. J. Comeau, PC 553/1228
    Replacement photo: Dan Treadwell
    PC-487 246k Crew members paint on their first victory of an Imperial Japanese Navy submarine
    "This U.S. Navy PC boat sank a Japanese submarine much larger than itself without assistance in the Pacific. On locating the undersea craft, the PC boat blew it to the surface with depth charges, then rammed it amidships. Circling to attack a second time, the PC's gun crews scored five direct hits on the submarine. Lt. W. G. Cornell, the PC boat commander, gave the order to ram again, and the enemy submarine sank--25 minutes after it was sighted."
    National Archives photo    		 Original photo: Hyperwar. U.S. Navy in WWII
    Replacement photo: Dan Treadwell
    PC-487 173k National Archives photo Dan Treadwell
    PC-487 81k From the collection of S.E."Buddy" Gibbons, WWII crewmember Scott Gibbons
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Wallace Gordon Cornell, USNR - Awarded the Navy Cross (1943)2 June 1942
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    View the Larchmont (PC-487)
    DANFS History Entry
    Located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Booklet of General Plans
    from the Historic Naval Ships Association website
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Submarine Chaser (PC) Photo Index
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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