USS PC-815

USS PC-815 running trials 13 April 1943
on the Columbia River
History
United States
NamePC-815
BuilderAlbina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon
Laid down10 October 1942
Launched5 December 1942
Commissioned20 April 1943
FateSunk after collision with USS Laffey, 11 September 1945, off the coast of San Diego
General characteristics
Class and typePC-461-class submarine chaser
Displacement295 tons fully loaded
Length173 ft (53 m)[1]
Beam23 ft (7.0 m)
Draft10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Propulsion2 × Hooven-Owens-Rentschler diesel engines (Serial No. 6977 and 6978), two shafts.
Speed20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement59
Armament

USS PC-815 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. Its first commander, for about eighty days in 1943, was L. Ron Hubbard, who later became the founder of Scientology. After Hubbard was removed from command for conducting unauthorized gunnery practice in Mexican territorial waters, the PC-815 served as a shore patrol vessel off San Diego, California.

In September 1945, the ship was lost along with one of her crew after colliding with the destroyer USS Laffey. PC-815's short career led to the vessel being dubbed the "jinxed sub-chaser".[2]

  1. ^ "173' Submarine Chaser". NavSource Photo Archives. Archived from the original on 12 January 2008.
  2. ^ Sables, Robert P. (January 2006). "PC-815: The Jinxed Sub-Chaser!". Sea Classics. Vol. 39, no. 1. Archived from the original on 6 November 2015.