The PCE-842-class patrol craft escort was a United States Navy (USN) ship class of submarine chasers designed during World War II. The PCE-842-class was the only class ever designated by the USN as the "patrol craft escort" (PCE) type (a PCE-905-class was planned, but none of the operational vessels served under the nominal class). The PCE design was derived from the to complement the s that were used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in coastal areas. At 185 feet long and 640 tons, the PCE is more than twice the displacement of the PC but with a less powerful engine also much slower; however, because of its larger size, the PCE was able to undertake longer-range tasks over PC-461-class vessels. The USN envisaged the PCE as enabling PCs and smaller vessels to undertake coastal patrols without being called-upon as often to perform open ocean and convoy escort duties, while simultaneously freeing-up some larger vessels - such as destroyer escorts and destroyers - from convoy ASW duties. The PCE-482-class had a standard crew complement of 99 officers and men. The class would ultimately see 68 total vessels built, serving with multiple navies around the world.
Development and design The Admirable class had been developed as a smaller minesweeper than the and s, which would be cheaper and easier to build, while still having good seakeeping capabilities in high seas. An escort derivative of the new design was proposed for supply under the Lend-Lease scheme to Britain's Royal Navy (which had already rejected the Admirable class as minesweepers), and when the United States Navy realized that a shortage of engines might prevent it from receiving additional s beyond those already on order, it was decided to build the escort variant, designated as Patrol Craft Escort (PCE) for both the US Navy and Royal Navy.
The ships were long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draft of . Displacement was standard and full load. They were powered by two General Motors 12-278A diesel engines driving two shafts via single reduction gearing. This gave a speed of . The ships had a range of at .
The normal armament on completion consisted of a single gun forward, two 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, backed up by 4 or 5 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. A Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar was mounted between the 3 inch gun and the ship's bridge, while depth charge projectors and rails were mounted on the ships' fantail. Later ships were fitted with a third Bofors gun and additional Oerlikons, while ships were later modified to mount three twin Bofors mounts and four Oerlikons. Some ships (including PCE-867) were armed with two 3-inch guns and three Oerlikons.
Detection equipment The class was fitted with radar, sonar and other detection equipment for ASW.
Conversions Some PCEs were later converted to Rescue Escorts, PCE(R), and to Amphibious Control Vessels, PCE(C), which were used in many U.S. amphibious landing operations during World War II, especially Leyte Gulf and Normandy. Two such ships, which were converted to Rescue Escorts, were the USS Somersworth and USS Fairview, both of which were present at the surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.
Production Sixty-eight Patrol Craft Escorts were built for the US Navy, and seventeen were delivered under the Lend-Lease Program to Allies during World War II. The PCEs proved to be an inexpensive substitute for larger and more valuable destroyers and destroyer escorts in convoy escort work.
Philippine Navy , the Philippine Navy still operates the with six PCEs as gun corvettes, with all the ships' ASW equipment already removed. The PCE is the most numerous major ship class of the Philippine Navy that, at one time, numbered more than ten vessels.
Ships
68 boats listed: 827 ... 860, 867 ... 886, 891 ... 904
Ship nameHull numberBuilderOriginal navy of serviceStatus Kilbernie PCE-827 Pullman Company, Chicago, Illinois
16 July 1943 June 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; sold for scrap, August 1997 Kilbride PCE-828
31 July 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; sold for scrap, 1988 Kilchatten PCE-829
16 August 1943 12 July 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; sold for scrap, 1983 Kilchrenan PCE-830
31 August 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; currently in service as of 2019 as a ferry. After conversion to ferry and passenger boat she sailed under the name MS Sunnhordland, a name she still carries. The ship was fully restored in 2016 and is now operating as a historic ship at the west coast of Norway. Kildary PCE-831
14 September 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; sold for scrap, 1980 Kildwick PCE-832
27 September 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; sunk while under tow, October 1983 Kilham PCE-833
9 October 1943 1945 Built in 1943 for the US Navy by the Pullman Car Company. Constructed of reinforced steel. Laid down 1943 February 26 as PCE-833 by the Pullman Standard Car Co., Chicago, IL. Launched 1943 August. Transferred 1943 October To Great Britain and commissioned HMS Kilham (Z 07); Reclassified BEC-7. Returned 1946 to U.S. custody in December; Struck from the Navy Register in 1947. Sold 1949 to S/A Investment (FylkesbaataneSogne og Fjordane, Mgrs.) of Bergen, Norway. Converted 1950 renamed M/S Sognefjord passenger ship. Sold 1958 to FylkesbataaneSogne og Fjordane of Bergen; Operated on the Norwegian west coast until 1982. Sold 1982 to Filmeffekt A/S of Oslo, Norway, and renamed Orion. Sold 1984 to K/S Orion Film A/S of Bergen and laid up. Sold 1987 to Matkat OY of Helsingfors, Finland. Sold 1991 to Orion Risteilyt O/Y of Hamina, Finland, and renamed Orion II. Sold 1996 to Jaako Mathias Eriksson of Honduras. Sold 1997 renamed ORIENT EXPLORER. Listed for sale in Sabah, Malaysia, 2019 for $129,000. Kilkenzie PCE-834
20 October 1943 July 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1948; sold for scrap, 1978 Kilkhampton PCE-835
30 Oct 1943 1945 Returned to the United States, December 1946; fate unknown Kilmacolm PCE-836
6 November 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1952; fate unknown Kilmarnock PCE-837
13 November 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1949; wrecked 5 January 1951 Kilmartin PCE-838
11 December 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; sold for scrap, 12 June 1969 Kilmelford PCE-839
8 December 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1949; fate unknown Kilmington PCE-840
11 December 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1951; sold for scrap, 2007 Kilmore PCE-841
24 December 1943 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1947; fate unknown Marfa PCE-842
29 January 1944 17 August 1955 Transferred to South Korea, 18 December 1961; Sunk by North Korean shore battery fire, 19 January 1967 Skowhegan PCE-843
30 January 1944 March 1955 Sold to a commercial interest, 1961; fate unknown n/a PCE-844
18 February 1944 November 1947 sold to the Mexican Navy and named ARM Pedro Sainz De Barandas (PO 123). Fate unknown. Worland PCE-845
1 March 1944 25 May 1964 Transferred to United States Navy Reserve as Naval Reserve Training Ship for 9th Naval District (Chicago) on 11 December 1950 and served on the Great Lakes. Transferred to State of North Carolina, Cape Fear Technical Institute, Wilmington, NC, 6 August 1964 and renamed R/V Advance II. Sold in 1980 to the Standard Products Co., Inc. of Wilmington, North Carolina. Donated to the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries 15 October 1993. Sunk 21 June 1994 off Kitty Hawk (Artificial Reef 145) as part of their artificial reef program. Eunice PCE 846
4 March 1944 Unknown Transferred to Ecuador, 29 November 1960; fate unknown n/a PCE-847
18 March 1944 Unknown Transferred to Mexico, November 1947; fate unknown n/a PCE-848
30 March 1944 March 1946 Sold for scrap, January 1947 Somersworth PCE-849
11 April 1944 September 1965 Sold for scrap, 1972 Fairview PCE-850
17 April 1944 1 May 1968 Sold to a commercial interest, 1969; fate unknown Rockville PCE-851
15 May 1944 21 December 1968 Transferred to Colombia, 1969 as ARC San Andres (BO 151) before being sent to the Colombian Coast Guard. Decommissioned in the late 1980s. Brattleboro PCE-852
26 May 1944 1 November 1965 Transferred to South Vietnam, 11 July 1966; later fled to the Philippines in 1975 after the fall of South Vietnam. Served in the Philippine Navy as BRP Miguel Malvar. Decommissioned 2021. Sunk 5/5/2025 while under tow, hours before she was to be expended as a live fire target. Amherst PCE-853
15 June 1944 6 February 1970 Transferred to South Vietnam, 3 June 1970; later fled to the Philippines in 1975 after the fall of South Vietnam; served in PhN as BRP Datu Marikudo, decommissioned 2010 Dec 9; equipment stripped for spares, hull sold for scrap n/a PCE-854
4 January 1945 1945 Sold to a commercial interest, 1945; fate unknown Rexburg PCE-855
1 November 1944 2 March 1970 Sold to a commercial interest, 28 October 1970; last documented, 2009; fate unknown Whitehall PCE-856
11 November 1944 1 July 1970 Transferred to United States Navy Reserve as Naval Reserve Training Ship for 4th Naval District (Philadelphia) July 1946. Decommissioned 1 July 1970 and sold to Eastern Seaboard Pile-Driving of Montvale and renamed Donna Marie. Converted to a tug in 1974. Sold to Standard Products Co. Inc. of Reedsville, Virginia, and renamed Atlantic Surf in 1980. Sold to Omega Protein Inc. of Hammond, Louisiana, and renamed Atlantic Shore. Fate unknown. Marysville PCE-857
26 April 1945 July 1970 Sold to a commercial interest, 1975; last documented, 1995; fate unknown Jackson PCE-858 United States Coast Guard 16 May 1945 24 July 1947 Transferred to United States Coast Guard to replace the sunken USCGC Jackson (WSC-142). Renamed USCGC Jackson (WPC-120), she was berthed at Curtis Bay, Maryland, until decommission due to lack of crew.
Sold to a commercial interest, 23 December 1947; fate unknown n/a PCE-859
10 March 1945 1947 Fate unknown n/a PCE-860
31 March 1945 April 1946 recommissioned as n/a PCE-867 Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon
20 June 1943 Unknown Transferred to the Republic of China, 7 February 1948; damaged in action with Communist Chinese forces 14 November 1965 and later scrapped n/a PCE-868
31 August 1943 29 October 1947 Transferred to Mexico, 8 November 1947; sold for scrap, 1995 n/a PCE-869
19 September 1943 1 July 1971 Transferred to Republic of China, 28 August 1945; fate unknown Dania PCE-870
5 October 1943 18 October 1946 Transferred to South Korea, 9 December 1961; fate unknown n/a PCE-871
29 October 1943 24 November 1947 Transferred to Mexico, 24 November 1947; sold for scrap, 1965 n/a PCE-872
29 November 1943 Unknown Transferred to Cuba, 1 October 1947; fate unknown n/a PCE-873
15 December 1943 1947 Transferred to South Korea, 1 November 1974; fate unknown Pascagoula PCE-874
31 December 1943 1 May 1959 Transferred to Ecuador, 5 December 1960; fate unknown n/a PCE-875
19 January 1944 Unknown Transferred to Mexico, November 1947; fate unknown Lodestone PCE-876
10 June 1944 21 February 1975 Sold for scrap, 1 May 1976 Havre PCE-877
14 February 1944 1 July 1970 Transferred to United States Navy Reserve as Naval Reserve Training Ship for 9th Naval District (Chicago) in April 1954 and served on the Great Lakes until struck from Navy list 1 July 1970. Fate unknown. Buttress PCE-878
13 March 1944 24 February 1947 Sold to a commercial interest, 1952; sunk as a target, 1990s Magnet PCE-879
10 July 1944 1975 Sunk as a target 4 March 1976 Ely PCE-880
29 April 1944 1 July 1970