USS Arcata (PC-601)

History
United States
Name	PC-601 Arcata
Builder	Consolidated Shipbuilding Company, Morris Heights, New York
Laid down	17 March 1942
Launched	23 May 1942
Commissioned	1 September 1942
Decommissioned	27 July 1946
Stricken	July 1960
Identification	Hull number: PC-601
Fate	Sold, fate unknown.
General characteristics
Class and type	PC-461-class submarine chaser
Displacement	450 short tons (410 tonnes)
Length	173 ft 8 in (52.93 m)
Beam	23 ft 0 in (7.01 m)
Draft	10 ft 10 in (3.30 m)
Propulsion	Two 1,440 bhp (1,070 kW) Fairbanks-Morse 38D8-1/8 diesel engines, Westinghouse reduction gear, 2,880 bhp (2,150 kW) total[1]
Speed	20.2 knots (37.4 km/h; 23.2 mph)
Complement	65 officers and enlisted
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 gun, 1 × 40 mm gun, 3 × 20 mm guns, 2 × rocket launchers, 4 × depth charge projectors, 2 × depth charge tracks

USS Arcata (PC-601) was a United States Navy PC-461-class submarine chaser named for Arcata, California; the second Navy ship to carry the name.

Construction and career

The hull of PC-601 was laid down on 17 March 1942 at Morris Heights, New York, by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation. The ship was launched on 23 May 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Junius S. Morgan. The submarine chaser was commissioned on 1 September 1942, Lt. G. D. Tammers, USNR, in command.

The subchaser conducted shakedown training along the east coast of the United States in September and October and, in November, reported for duty with the West Sea Frontier. By the spring of 1943, she had begun to escort ships among bases on the Alaskan coast and in the Aleutian Islands.

A year later, early in April 1944, the ship proceeded to Seattle for two months of duty before continuing south to San Francisco where she served until late September. At that time, the subchaser moved west to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory. Early in October, she headed for Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. Upon her arrival there, PC-601 began escorting convoys between American bases in the Marshalls, the Marianas, and the Carolines. She remained so occupied through the end of World War II and into the fall of 1945. After returning to the west coast of the United States via Pearl Harbor in the spring of 1946, PC-601 was placed out of commission at Astoria, Oregon, on 27 July 1946. Berthed with the Columbia River Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet, she remained inactive for the rest of her career. In February of 1956, she was named Arcata. Her name was struck from the Navy list in July 1960, and she was sold in April 1961.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.