USS PC-542

Career (United States)
Name: USS PC-542
Laid down: 26 February 1942
Launched: 4 April 1942
Commissioned: 25 May 1942
Decommissioned: 30 September 1944
Fate: transferred to the French Navy, 30 September 1944
Career (France)
Name: Tirailleur
Acquired: 30 September 1944
Fate: condemned, 1957
General characteristics
Class and type:PC-461-class submarine chaser

USS PC-542 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was transferred to the French Navy under Lend-Lease in September 1944 and renamed Tirailleur.

Career

PC-542 was laid down at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, on 26 February 1942; launched on 4 April 1942; and commissioned on 25 May 1942.

After commissioning, PC-542 ran convoys to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before sailing for the Mediterranean, arriving in Arzew, Algeria. She participated in the invasions of Scoglitti, Brolo, Salerno, and Anzio in Italy; and in Operation Dragoon--the invasion of Southern France.

On 30 September 1944, PC-542 was transferred to France under Lend-Lease, where she served as Tirailleur and was credited with shooting down 2 German planes in the Mediterranean.

She was condemned by the French Navy in 1957.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.