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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

PC-626



Call sign:
Nan - William - Mike - Dog


PC-626 served the Navies of the United States and France
PC-461 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Laid down 5 June 1942 by the Jeffersonville Boat and Machinery Co., Jeffersonville, IN
  • Launched 18 August 1942
  • Commissioned USS PC-626, 26 October 1942.
  • Assigned to the European theater and took part in the following operations:
    Sicilian occupation, 9 - 15 July 1943
    Anzio-Nettuno Advanced landings, 22 - 30 January, 1 - 5 February, and 10 - 29 February 1944, and
    the 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
  • Assisted PC-558 in sinking a German one-man submarine 9 May 1944 off the coast of Salerno, Sicily
  • Captured a German speedboat 23 May 1944 of the coast of Anzio, Italy and took the crew prisoner
  • Decommissioned 11 November 1944 and transferred to the Free French at Toulon, France as Lansquenet (W 121)
  • Reclassified as P-605
  • Struck from the Navy Register 22 September 1958
  • Scrapped in 1959.

    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 single 40mm gun mount; three 20mm guns, two rocket launchers, four depth charge projectiles and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 1,440bhp General Motors 16-258S diesel engines (Serial No. 7779 & 7780), Farrel-Birmingham single reduction gear, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PC-626
    PC-626 168k 18 August 1942.
    Launch day for PC-626 at the Jeffersonville Boat and Machinery Co.    		 Carolyn Cardwell
    PC-626 161k
    PC-626 129k
    PC-626 135k
    PC-626 178k
    PC-626 197k
    PC-626 199k
    PC-626 217k
    PC-626 194k
    PC-626 159k
    PC-626 185k
    PC-626 149k
    PC-626 202k
    PC-626 187k
    PC-626 178k
    PC-626 164k
    Lansquenet (W 121)
    PC-626 127k Model of the Lansquenet.
    Photograph published by the Association of the Friends of the Museum of the Navy (France)    		 French PC Website
    PC-626 897k Photo taken from "French Warships of World War II," by Jean Labayle Couhat Robert Hurst
    Lansquenet (P 605)
    PC-626 26k Photo by Marine Nationale Robert Hurst
    PC-626 76k Photo by Wright and Logan, Southsea, England from the 1958/1959 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships
    There is no DANFS history available for PC-626
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back To The Main Photo Index Back To the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Type Index Back to the Submarine Chaser (PC) Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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