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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

USCGC Air Drake (WAVR 418)
ex-USS SC-541



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - Easy - Roger

ex-PC-541



SC-541 served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard
SC-497 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 1 August 1941 by the Robinson Marine Construction Co., Benton Harbor, MI
  • Launched 11 April 1942
  • Delivered 6 May 1942 and commissioned USS PC-541
  • Reclassified SC-541 in April 1943
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard 14 July 1945
  • Commissioned USCGS Air Drake (WAVR 418), 31 October 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register 16 November 1945
  • Sold in 1948 to Thorton and William Lawson of New York as the 123-ton fishing vessel Drake
  • Acquired in 1949 by Thomas Lawson and Co. of New York, NY for use as a fishing boat
  • Acquired in 1954 by the Frozenat-Sea Corp. of Marathon, FL
  • Sold in 1956 to Bahamian ship owner Sir George W. K. Roberts, who had brought the two sister ships Air Pheasant, ex-SC-1015 and Air Swift, ex-SC-1340
  • Sank 29 December 1968 off Cave Cay, Musha Cays and Farmers Cay, in the Exumas, Bahamas.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 95 t.
  • Length 110' 10"
  • Beam 17'
  • Draft 6' 6" (fl)
  • Speed 21 kts.
  • Complement 28
  • Armament: One 40mm mount, one twin .50 cal. machine gun, two "K Guns", 14 depth charges with six single release chocks, and two sets Mk 20 Mousetrap rails with four 7.2 projectiles
  • Propulsion: Two 1,540bhp General Motors Electro-Motive Div. 16-184A diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SC-541 191k Artist adds finishing touches to the ship's insignia, at about the time of her commissioning in May 1942
    National Archives photo 80-G-K-13508    		 Naval History and Heritage Command
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Oscar L. Otterson, USNR6 May 1942
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for SC-541
    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 110' Submarine Chaser (SC) Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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