View source for USS PC-817

{{Use American English|date=November 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=
|Ship caption=
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{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1945}}
|Ship name=USS ''PC-817''
|Ship builder=*Albina Engine & Machinery Works,
*[[Portland, Oregon]]
|Ship laid down=8 January 1943
|Ship launched=4 March 1943
|Ship commissioned=13 July 1943
|Ship decommissioned=22 July 1946
|Ship in service=22 July 1946
|Ship out of service=December 1949
|Ship renamed=USS ''Welch'' (PC-817), 15 February 1956
|Ship struck=1 April 1959
|Ship fate=fate unknown
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship class={{sclass|PC-461|submarine chaser|1}}
|Ship displacement=280 tons
|Ship length={{convert|173|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|23|ft|0|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|10|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=
|Ship speed=20.2 knots
|Ship complement=65
|Ship armament=*1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}/50 cal]]
*1 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm gun]]
*2 × [[depth charge]] throwers
*2 × depth charge tracks
}}
|}
'''USS ''PC-817''''' was a {{sclass|PC-461|submarine chaser}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. She was later renamed '''''Welch'' (PC-817)''' but never saw active service under that name.
==Career==
''PC-817'' was laid down at [[Portland, Oregon]], by the Albina Engine & Machinery Works on 8 January 1943; launched on 4 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. H. O. McAlpine; and commissioned on 13 July 1943.
''PC-817'' completed fitting out at Portland until 6 August when she shifted south to [[San Pedro, California]]. After [[shakedown cruise|shakedown]] training out of San Pedro between 18 August and 30 September, the patrol craft was assigned to the [[Western Sea Frontier]]. She served along the [[California]] coast—escorting coastwise [[convoys]] and conducting [[antisubmarine]] patrols—until 1 December when she arrived at the Naval Station, [[Seattle, Washington]], for repairs incident to her imminent transfer to the [[Alaska Sea Frontier]]. On the 16th, she departed Seattle and arrived at [[Ketchikan]] four days later.
For the next 11 months, ''PC-817'' steamed between the sundry American bases along the [[Aleutians]] chain, escorting supply convoys, transporting passengers and mail, and conducting surveys. On 5 November 1944, the patrol vessel departed [[Shemya]] to escort ''SS Griffco'' to [[Seattle, Washington]]. After stops at [[Adak Island|Adak]], [[Dutch Harbor]], and [[Ketchikan]], she arrived in Seattle on 29 November.
At the [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]], she began a major overhaul that lasted until April 1945. On 18 April, the patrol vessel took leave of [[Puget Sound]] and headed—via [[San Francisco, California]]—to her last wartime assignment—the [[Hawaiian Islands]]. She reached [[Pearl Harbor]] on 1 May and conducted patrols among and escorted ships between the islands through the end of the war.
On 11 September, she headed back to the [[U.S. West Coast]], arriving in [[San Pedro, California]], on the 20th. From there, she steamed to the [[Panama Canal]] and thence proceeded via [[Key West, Florida]], to [[Jacksonville, Florida]], where she arrived on 28 November.
''PC-817'' was to have undergone inactivation overhaul at Jacksonville and then was to have been decommissioned and berthed with the Florida Group, [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]]. However, her inactivation was never completed. She remained at Jacksonville until April 1946 when she moved north to [[Charleston, South Carolina]], for disposal by the Commandant, [[6th Naval District]]. However, while at Charleston, she received a reprieve by way of assignment as [[U.S. Naval Reserve]] [[training ship]] for the [[9th Naval District]]. On 4 June, she headed north from Charleston. After a visit to [[New York City]] and port calls at American and Canadian ports along the [[St. Lawrence waterway]], she arrived at [[Toledo, Ohio]], on 11 July. Though placed out of commission on 22 July, ''PC-817'' remained active—in an "in service" capacity—as a Naval Reserve training ship for the [[9th Naval District]].
After over three years of service training naval reservists on the [[Great Lakes]], ''PC-817'' began her last voyage on 14 November 1949. From [[Chicago, Illinois]], she steamed down the [[Des Plaines River|Des Plaines]] and [[Illinois River]] system to the [[Mississippi River]] just above [[St. Louis, Missouri]], and thence moved south to [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], where she arrived on 29 November. A week later, she continued her voyage—via [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], [[St. Petersburg, Florida|St. Petersburg]] and [[Key West, Florida]]—and arrived in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], on 19 December.
On the 21st, she began inactivation overhaul at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]]. In March 1950, she was shifted south to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], and was berthed with the Norfolk Group, [[Atlantic Reserve Fleet]]. She remained there for the next nine years; and, during that time, she received a name. On 15 February 1956, ''PC-817'' became USS ''Welch'' (PC-817). On 1 April 1959, her name was struck from the [[Navy list]]. She was probably sold for scrapping soon thereafter.
==References==
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/welch-i.htm}}
==External links==
* {{navsource|12/010817}}
{{PC-461 class submarine chaser|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:PC-0817}}
[[Category:PC-461-class submarine chasers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II patrol vessels of the United States]]