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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

PC-556



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - Yoke - Yoke


PC-556 served the Navies of the United States and France
PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 1 October 1941 by Luders Marine Construction Co., Stamford, CT
  • Launched, 23 June 1942
  • Commissioned USS PC-556, 1 September 1942 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with a Coast Guard crew
  • During World War II, PC-556 was assigned to the European theater and participated in the following operations:
    Sicilian occupation, 9 - 15 July 1943
    Salerno landings, 9 - 21 September 1943
    Anzio-Netturno advanced landings, 22 - 28 January 1944 and 6 - 18 February 1944, and
    Invasion of Southern France, 15 August - 25 September 1944
  • On 29 March 1944 the destroyers Ericsson (DD 440) and Kearny (DD 432), along with PC-626, PC-556 and PC-558 and British destroyers HMS Laforeu (G 99), HMS Tumult (R 11), HMS Hambledon
    (L 37) and HMS Blencathra (L 24) began submarine hunt 30 miles northwest of Palermo, Sicily. Their efforts culminate in the sinking of German submarine U-223 at 38º48'N, 14º10'E
  • Damaged by German aircraft 10 May 1944 off Anzio, Italy
  • Decommissioned 19 October 1944, transferred to France at Toulon and named Carabinier (W 92)
  • Reclassified as P-617
  • Struck from the Navy Register 9 July 1958 and used as a training hulk under the name Uranium
  • Scrapped in 1968
  • PC-556 earned four battle stars for World War II service.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 280 t.(lt), 450 t.(fl)
  • Length 173' 8"
  • Beam 23'
  • Draft 10' 10"
  • Speed 20.2 kts.
  • Complement 65
  • Armament: Two 3"/50 dual purpose gun mounts, three 20mm guns, two rocket launchers, four depth charge projectors and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 1,440bhp General Motors 16-258S diesel engines (Serial No. 6337 and 6338), Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS PC-556
    PC-556 496k Crewmen loading the PC-556 for a cruise off the Atlantic coast, 8 October 1942. This particular vessel was only five weeks old when this photograph was taken, and may well have been preparing for her maiden operational voyage
    National Archives photo 80-G-K-870    		 Robert Hurst
    PC-556 115k 3"/50 gun crew at drill, 8 October 1942. Trainer is Seaman Second Class Andrew J. McAnally, (left), pointer is Signalman Third Class Theodore Cholewinski, (right), sight setter is Jack Friedman (behind pointer)
    National Archives photo 80-G-K-864    		 Original photo: Hyperwar U.S. Navy in WWII
    Replacement photo: Naval History and Heritage Command
    PC-556 179k 8 October 1942
    Looking down and aft from the Crow's Nest
    Photo by VU-4, Atlantic Fleet
    National Archives photo 80-G-K-859    		 Joe Radigan
    PC-556 208k A Coast guardsman sets detonating depth on a depth charge, 8 October 1942. The 300-pound Mk. 6 depth charge is mounted on a "K-gun" projector
    National Archives photo 80-G-14940    		 Mike Green
    PC-556 320k Mary Powell
    Photo added 10 March 2021
    PC-556 71k Bob Daly/PC-1181
    Carabinier (P 617)
    PC-556 71k c. 1957
    Brest, France
    Moored outboard of Bisson (F 747)    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Ernest A. Cascini, USCG - USCGA Class of 1935
    Retired as Captain    		1 September 1942
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for PC-556
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Joe Radigan
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