USS ''PC-1129'' was a built for 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 ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. She was sunk by a Japanese suicide boat in January 1945 in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phi ...

Construction and service

Laid down as a PC-461 Class Submarine chaser at Defoe Shipbuilding of

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 Metrop ...

on 23 September 1942, ''PC-1129'' was commissioned into U.S. Navy service on 3 June 1943 as a member of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. After clearing the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

and entering the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

, ''PC-1129'' steamed to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

where she joined a convoy of Westbound amphibious craft and stood out for the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

. Joining the

U.S. Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

at Balboa, ''PC-1129'' began regular convoy escort assignments between the Panama Canal and

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, eventually taking up the San Diego-Pearl Harbor route during the later months of 1943. Operating out of

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the R ...

through late 1944, ''PC-1129'' escorted American naval and merchant convoys between

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

and destinations throughout the South Pacific before she shifted her homeport to the rear-area base at

Seeadler Harbor Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II. In German, "Seeadler" means sea eagle, pointing to German colonial activity between 1884 a ...

Manus Island Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth-largest island in Papua New Guinea, with an area of , measuring around . Manus Island is covered in rugged jungles w ...

, northern

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

, which served as a marshaling point for men, material and supplies for the Philippine Invasion. ''PC-1129'' spent much of the fall of 1944 escorting convoys between the Leyte beachhead and Manus. As Allied forces advanced into the Philippine archipelago, ''PC-1129'' began to operate out of

Leyte Gulf Leyte Gulf is a gulf in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, and is bounded by two islands; Samar in the north and Leyte in the west. On the south of the bay is Mindanao ...

, where her anti-submarine and anti-aircraft capabilities were in demand. Escorting invasion and resupply convoys between Leyte and the front lines through December 1944, ''PC-1129'' and her crew became aware of the Japanese doctrine of

Kamikaze , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending t ...

attacks and spent these deployments at

general quarters General quarters, battle stations, or action stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the arme ...

. After seeing several convoys to their destinations, PC-1129 received orders in January 1945 calling for her support in the 11th Airborne Division’s mission to secure the city of Nasugbu and escort a formation of landing craft carrying the 188th Infantry Regiment to their landing beaches. Departing Leyte in escort on January 29, ''PC-1129'' screened her charges to their destination and as the aerial and amphibious assault commenced on 31 January, she stood offshore to provide

fire support Fire support is defined by the United States Department of Defense as " Fires that directly support land, maritime, amphibious, and special operations forces to engage enemy forces, combat formations, and facilities in pursuit of tactical and ope ...

. As darkness fell and the ground forces moved inland, ''PC-1129'' moved further offshore to open water for the night. In a screening position, ''PC-1129'' was called to general quarters when fast-moving surface contacts were detected on radar. Moving to intercept, ''PC-1129'' joined with other subchasers,

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s and

destroyers In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

in a night firefight against a force of over 20 Shin'yō suicide boats, each one capable of speeds over 30 knots and armed with a bow-mounted charge of of explosives. Though several of the enemy craft were destroyed in the exchange of fire, two by ''PC-1129'', one crashed into her aft starboard side. The resulting detonation blew open an enormous hole in the ''PC-1129''’s hull, in addition to knocking out her propellers and steering. Many of her crew were blown into the water from her decks by the blast, and she began to sink by the stern. Fires broke out on and around her and were fed by diesel fuel from her damaged tanks, leaving her illuminated. With several more Shin'yō craft operating in the area, ''PC-1129''’s Captain ordered his ship abandoned shortly before 2200hrs and she sank stern-first on 31 January 1945, with two crew killed. She was struck from the Navy List on 23 February 1945. ''PC-1129'' was one of three major ships built at Defoe Shipbuilding Company that were lost during

, the others were USS ''Rich'' (DE-695) and the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

Cutter ''Escanaba'' (WPG-77). She received one

battle star A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star inch (4.8 mm) in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or ser ...

for her service.

References

External links

''PC-1129'' at uboat.net

USS PC-1129 at www.wrecksite.eu
{{DEFAULTSORT:PC-1129 PC-461-class submarine chasers Ships built in Bay City, Michigan 1942 ships World War II patrol vessels of the United States Maritime incidents in January 1945 World War II shipwrecks in the South China Sea