USS ''Castine'' (IX-211) was a ship in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. She was originally named ''PC-452'', a

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. Many of the American submarine chasers used in World War I found their way to Allied nations by way of Lend-Lease in World War II. ...

. ''PC-452'' was laid down on 14 March 1940 at the DeFoe Boat and Motor Works in

Bay City, Michigan Bay City is a city and county seat of Bay County in the U.S. state of Michigan, located near the base of the Saginaw Bay on Lake Huron. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 34,932, and it is the principal city of the Bay City Metropol ...

, as Hull #167, under the Experimental Small Craft program of 17 May 1938. She was launched on 23 August 1941 and towed to the

Philadelphia Navy Yard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the cit ...

to be fitted out with

boilers A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

; and commissioned as USS ''PC-452'' on 1 May 1944. ''PC-452'' was to be used as a steam

turbine A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

test bed hull, while ''PC-451'', also an experimental ship built at Defoe, used

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

electric drive. Originally called "X-Boats," they differed in detail and were listed as 165 footers, even though they were 173 feet long. ''PC-452'' was reclassified as an Unclassified Miscellaneous Auxiliary, IX-211, and named ''Castine'' on 10 March 1945 for the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. ''Castine'' was decommissioned on 3 October 1945; struck from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

, (date unknown); and transferred to the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

for disposal in January 1947. Her ultimate fate is unknown. PC-452's executive officer, Lt.(j.g.) John W. Hazard, wrote an article for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' recounting the steam propulsion experiments that became the basis for the 1951 comedy film ''

You're in the Navy Now ''You're in the Navy Now'' is a 1951 American war drama film about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II. The film was directed by Henry Hathaway and stars Gary Cooper as a new officer wanting duty at sea but who is instead a ...

''.

References

External links

www.navsource.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castine (IX-211) Submarine chasers of the United States Navy Ships built in Bay City, Michigan 1941 ships