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A brief history of the Submarine Chaser
U.S.S. SC1012
I don't mean to brag. . . but I guess I will.
This plate cost enough!
If you see me on the road, toot your horn.
Meanwhile, back to business.
I have several other pages to be viewed. Click
on the links that interest you.
Help needed for the USS SC1013
Links
to other related web sites
If you are interested in obtaining more information on any particular ship, a trip to the National Archives in College Park, MD is in order. The following link will give some perspective to what you need to do and what to expect...
General Info on the National Archives II
U.S.S. SC1012
This Site is Dedicated
to the Officers and Men who served on the little wooden ships known as
Submarine Chasers. These 110' models were completely made of wood and as such
were the smallest commissioned warship that the navy had that was fully
Oceangoing. Unlike the PT boats, these ships made their own way across the oceans
that they served in.
There were
almost 500 manufactured during each World War. Initially they were built to
stem the U-boat problem that Germany created in both WWI and WWII. Out of the
900+ ships built for both wars, figuring each ship had a complement of 28
Officers and Enlisted personnel, there may have been over 40,000 men serving on
them during both Wars.
I wonder how
such a large number of ships and men could be so poorly represented for their
role in history?
I started
this "Project" because of the limited amount of information that I
was able to locate about these ships. I have dedicated this site to the memory
of my father, LtJG E. Gordon Myers (January 22, 1918 - July 4, 1962), my
Mother, Catherine L. Myers (March 26, 1919 - June 20, 2002) as well as the men
that served with him onboard the SC1012. There was virtually no readily
available data on these ships anywhere. I have tried to mention as much as I
could about the sub chasers and their roles during both wars. At the time I
started this project, the only available site was through the Patrol Craft
Sailor's Association. Although it was not as complete as I would have liked, it
was one of the only sources for information.
It was
really frustrating to me to locate books, web sites, etc to find photos of the
SC1009 and SC1013; but none of the SC1012. (Of course, initially, there weren't
many of these photos either.) They seemed so close to the SC1012 that it really
served to wet my appetite even more. It was also nice to learn that there were
others out there that shared my interests in bringing to light the history of
the sub chasers and trying to keep alive their stories, etc. Although this site
is primarily dedicated to my Father and his ship, additional sites do now exist
and slowly more information is coming out. One site that is extremely well done
is by the former Commander of the SC648 from the South Pacific, Ted Treadwell,
aka DIODOR@aol.com. A link is established
for you later on. You need to check out Ted's book. I just received it and upon
scanning through it, the SC1012's beached photo is shown as well as her
disposition. Ted has done a fine job indeed on reporting various stories,
photos and information on many of the SC's from WWII. It is well worth the
money.
This was the
SC1012 at Florida Island in the South Pacific.
The right
photo is the SC1012 in drydock.
The only
pictures that I had from my Father showed the hull numbers were larger than the
SC designation. In no other photos do the large numbers show up. I have since
learned that as a "Landing Control Craft" that designation was used
to positively ID the control craft for the troop carriers.
All of the
WWII subchasers shared the same hull design; but depending on the manufacturer,
the deck layout and ordnance placement changed. It seemed that each shipbuilder
followed their own layout.
The number
and type of ordnance seems to have been dictated by whatever guns and other
ordnance were available at the time they were built. Some were equipped with 50
caliber machine guns rather than the 20 mm cannons. Many were ultimately fitted
with a 40 mm cannon in front of the wheelhouse. (These were mainly the later
models)
The position
of the lifeboat changed. Some were amidships and many were mounted transversely
across the stern. Of course, the radar and sonar gears were in a continual
state of flux. As improved versions of each were available, the ships were then
retrofitted.
One very
interesting fact was that the ships were primarily built from Pine; but as I
have since found out that whatever material that was readily available was
used. As a result, unless they routinely employed the brick and sand method of
scrubbing the decks, they turned the dark grey that weathered pine turns when
exposed to the elements. Pine was primarily the wood of choice. Hence the
moniker that they had placed upon them of the "Splinter Fleet of the
Donald Duck Navy"
The SC1012
was built by the Fellows and Craft shipbuilders. Along with the SC1012, this
company was responsible for building 13 other subchasers.
Keel laid. .
. September 7, 1942
Launched. .
. December 28, 1942
Commissioned.
. . August 18, 1943
Designation
changed from PC to SC. . . April 8, 1943
Damaged
beyond repair following a Typhoon that hit the Sea Plane Base on Okinawa. . .
October 1945
The SC1012
was ultimately destroyed on January 1st, 1946.
She was
involved in several campaigns. . .
The SC1012
traveled many miles across and throughout the south Pacific escorting convoys,
providing Harbormaster duties and pre-invasion reconnaissance. On one such
convoy, in February of 1944, The LST-577 was torpedoed. The escort ships, the
USS Coolbaugh and USS Haas along with the SC1012 formed a Hunter-Killer group
and began a systematic search for the offending sub. Although no confirmed kill
was ever recorded, the rapid and aggressive actions taken by the escort ships,
resulted in no further offensive action from the sub. The LST was able to steam
to port and as I understand it was ultimately destroyed. I am not aware of any
casualties; but I am sure that there were some.
(Just as a
quick footnote to the above action report. . . The actual report indicated that
8 or 9 rockets were fired at a location that sonar showed the sub to be. One of
the crew, the chief gunner's mate, indicated to me that he did not remember the
SC1012 firing any rockets. It also was his intention to not discredit an
official Naval Document. He truly could not remember.)
The story
was told while completing their Harbormaster duties, in the Keramerati Island
Group, they had just escorted an ammo ship to dock, the SC1012 was accosted by
a Kamikaze. The crew already at battle stations and manning the guns, had just
prepared to open fire when the pilot, apparently spotting a better target,
broke off his attack on the SC1012 and slammed into the ammo ship. As one
crewmember recalled the incident, that ammo ship burned for 3 or 4 days. It was
but one of the harrowing experiences that they encountered.
The SC1012
was extremely fortunate in not loosing any crewmembers to any sort of enemy
action. The same cannot be said for all of the SC's. Most of her escort duties
were the most boring imaginable. However the thought that at any moment all
heck could break loose was very hard on every combat soldier or sailor. The
later being a very real possibility.
During the
pre-invasion recon of the islands, Col. "Squeeky" Anderson was the
commanding officer for the landing forces. Squeeky was the main commander for
the landing operations the 1012 was involved in. He would routinely board the
1012 and go with them to map out the landing zones. During the actual invasion,
the 1012 would stand by at a preset location and the landing craft would then
home in on her, aiming to the right or the left of where the 1012 was
stationed. This type of "spotting" enabled the landing ships to hit
their target without using any other guidance systems.
This was
Squeeky's landing craft. The photo on the right was the crew as of November,
1943.
This is the
SC1012 after being cast upon the gravel piles at Buckner Bay @ Okinawa. October
1945 (Courtesy of Clayton Pedersen) (Left photo)
That is the
same fate that the SC1306 suffered. (Courtesy of Francis Chumney) (Right photo)
This is the
flag for the SC1012. (Courtesy of family of Robert Murphy)
The layout
below is of a typical WW2 subchaser. (Courtesy of Al Ross)
This was a
WWI subchaser, the SC405. This photo gives you a better idea of the approximate
size that the 110' model subchaser was. (I downloaded this off of the internet;
but cannot remember where it came from or I would give credit for it.)
I wish to extend
many thanks to those of you who have assisted me with suggestions while I was
struggling with creating this web site. It should not have been this difficult
to create something like this; but it was. Mucho Thankso to those of you who
assisted me.
And thanks
to those of you that have visited. I hope you enjoyed it. . . That alone makes
it all worth while.
I think I
have finally got all of the current photos to properly display. Whewie! What a
struggle. Thanks for your patience.
I want to
thank you all and may God bless you with Blue Skies and Clear sailing.
Email me
with your comments. . .
For those of you that are interested, I am
completing the scan of the 4 microfilm reels from the National Archives. These
scans contain all of the plans for all of the SC's built during WWII. It is not
my intention to use this as a money making endeavor; but I feel that I need to
charge something for these scans if for no other reason to try to recover some of
the expenses for the equipment as well as the cost of the film. For those
interested, I can supply them with the information whereby they can order the
film directly from the National Archives. For those of you that are interested
in the scanned images, please email me with your request.
I cannot say when they will all be available; but
I hope by early this summer. You MUST keep in mind that all of the images were,
or will be scanned directly from the reels. If for some reason the scanned
files are not what you are looking for, I will try to review my copy and
evaluate it based on the original. At this time all of the scanned images are a
reasonably good representation of the reels. Hence, I cannot be responsible for
a poor microfilm image.
In any event, if you are interested, please
contact me; but please be patient with me.
Last updated
on 01/07/2003
Please consider the USS SC1013...She is currently in Baltimore, MD and looking for a new home. The current owner has tried to sell her on E-Bay to no avail. It may require from $15 to $25,000.00 to get her seaworthy and down to the Houston Area where an American Legion Post is willing to refurbish her and set her up as a Museum. NO WHERE in the United States is there a memorial to the sailors who served on the 110' SC's. This is a fantastic opportunity to really make a difference and preserve an important piece of our History. Thank you all.