 USS PC-815 running trials 13 April 1943
on the Columbia River | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | PC-815 |
| Builder | Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon |
| Laid down | 10 October 1942 |
| Launched | 5 December 1942 |
| Commissioned | 20 April 1943 |
| Fate | Sunk after collision with USS Laffey, 11 September 1945, off the coast of San Diego |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | PC-461-class submarine chaser |
| Displacement | 295 tons fully loaded |
| Length | 173 ft (53 m)[1] |
| Beam | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Draft | 10 ft 10 in (3.30 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 × Hooven-Owens-Rentschler diesel engines (Serial No. 6977 and 6978), two shafts. |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement | 59 |
| 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]
- ^ 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.