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NavSource Online: Patrol Craft Escort
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Rexburg (EPCE[R] 855)
ex-EPCE(R)-855
ex-PCE(R)-855



Call sign:
November - Xray - Charlie - Foxtrot

ex-PCE-855

PCE(R)-848 Class Patrol Craft Escort (Rescue):

  • Originally planned as PCE-855 but reclassified PCE(R)-855 in June 1943
  • Laid down 8 December 1943 by the Pullman Standard Car Manufacturing Co., Chicago, IL
  • Launched 10 April 1944
  • Commissioned USS PCE(R)-855, 1 November 1944 at New Orleans, LA
  • Reclassified as an Experimental Patrol Craft Escort (Rescue), EPCE(R)-855, 7 June 1946
  • Named Rexburg 15 February 1956
  • Decommissioned and struck from the Naval Register 2 March 1970
  • Sold 28 October 1970 to the National Metal and Steel Corp. of Terminal Island, CA
  • Sold to L. Ron Hubbard's Church of Scientology and renamed Asia
  • Renamed Excalibur in 1977 and operated out of Baton Rouge, LA
  • Acquired in 1978 by the Standards Products Co., Inc. of Kilmarnock, VA and renamed Atlantic Breeze
  • Acquired in 1989 by Ampro Fisheries, Inc. of Burgess, VA
  • Acquired by Omega Protein, Inc. of Moss Point, MS
  • Out of documentation in 2009
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 850 t.
  • Length 184' 6"
  • Beam 33' 1"
  • Draft 9' 5"
  • Speed 15.7 kts.
  • Complement 99
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose mount and two 40mm mounts
  • Propulsion: Two 1,000bhp General Motors 12-278A diesel engines, Falk single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS PCE(R)-855
    PCER-855 129k c. 1944
    National Archives photo    		 Ted Mayhugh
    PCER-855 186k Casualties from USS Evans (DD-552) are brought aboard USS PCER-855 from USS Ringness (APD-100), after Evans was damaged by Kamikaze attacks while on radar picket duty off Okinawa on 11 May 1945. Photographed from on board PCER-855
    National Archives photo 80-G-331077    		 Fred Weiss
    PCER-855 62k c. 1945. EM3 James Rowan
    via his grandson Rick Rowan
    PCER-855 47k Being approached by a liberty boat. Note the movie screen rigged on the forecastle.
    PCER-855 104k c. 1945.
    "Bum Boats" at Hong Kong.
    PCER-855 29k c. 1945.
    LCM alongside to starboard.
    PCER-855 79k c. 1945
    Dry docked at Pearl Harbor
    PCER-855 77k
    PCER-855 80k
    PCER-855 66k c. 1945
    Inspecting the port shaft in dry dock at Pearl Harbor
    PCER-855 175k c. 1945
    Starboard shaft strut packing glands being removed in dry dock at Pearl Harbor
    PCER-855 128k c. 1945
    Working on both shafts in dry dock at Pearl Harbor
    PCER-855 48k Cleaning the 3"/50 gun
    PCER-855 43k Taking green water over the bow
    Rexburg 181k PCE(R)-855 and Baya (AGSS 318) .
    USS Rexburg (EPCE[R] 855)
    Rexburg 95k Rexburg (EPCER 855) as an experimental ship, armament removed and a heavy boom installed at her stern to handle equipment for underwater sound experiments
    U.S. Navy photo from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships    		 Joe Radigan
    Rexburg 270k c. 1958
    Entering San Francisco Golden Gate.
    Photo by Allied Photographers of San Francisco, CA    		 Robert M. Cieri
    Rexburg 305k 23 January 1969
    Off San Diego, CA
    National Archives photos K-66863, K-66865 and K-66867    		 Naval History and Heritage Command
    Rexburg 365k
    Rexburg 363k
    Rexburg 396k c. April 1969
    Long Beach, CA
    In dry dock with Marysville (EPCE[R] 857)    		 Robert Powers
    Rexburg 435k
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Arnold C. Anderson, USNR1 November 1944
    02LT Alfred Francis Blair, USNR30 January 1945
    03LT Arthur Laurence Dowling, USNR - Awarded the Navy Cross (1945)June 1945
    04LT Hugh Larimer Webster, USN - USNA Class of 1955
    Awarded the Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and Navy Commendation Medal - Retired as Rear Admiral    		June 1959 - June 1960
    Courtesy of Wolfgang Hechler, Ron Reeves and Joe Radigan
    View the Rexburg (EPCE[R]-855)
    DANFS History entry located on the Haze Gray & Underway Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the Patrol Craft Escort (Rescue) - (PCE[R]) Photo Index
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    This page created by Gary P. Priolo and maintained by Tom Bateman
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