menu-header-menu

Follow Us

Follow us   

The United States Navy Memorial

Navy Memorial Honoring the Men & Women of the Sea Services

Donate

PC-558

Ship Designation: 
PC-558
Date Lost: 
Tuesday, May 9, 1944
U-Boat Attack off coast of Italy
On patrol off Italy on May 9, 1944, a lookout on PC 558 spotted a submarine wake off the starboard bow. All hands rushed to battle stations. ... Gunners on the PC opened fire with the 20-mm and 40-mm guns. Shells walked across the water and pounded into the dome. The PC steamed toward the contact and the Captain ordered the crew to roll depth charges. ... In the explosions that followed the shallow pattern, the target, a German one-man submarine, disappeared and plunged to the bottom. Later, the Captain of PC 558 repeated this action with the help of PC 626 and sank a second German one-man submarine. ... Revenge was swift, however, when a German torpedo ripped through and sank PC 558 the same day with the loss of many of her crew. Accompanying PC 558, when she sank, PC 1235 dodged three torpedoes herself. After the U-boat that had fired them retired from the area under pursuit, PC 1235 hurried back to where PC 558 went down. There, her crew plucked thirty survivors of PC 558 from the water.

Lost At Sea Log

Number of sailors in this log: 29

Namesort descending Service Branch
RM 2c Joseph Aitkens USN
EM 3c John Batch USN
PhM 1c Joseph Buono USN
GM 1c Neal Carpenter USN
SF 2c LeRoy Chaplinski USN
GM 3c Earl Charbonneau USN
SF 3c William Charbonneau USN
RM 2c Raymond Collet USN
MOMM 1c Samuel Cooper USN
SM 3c George Cope USN
Cox Anthony Corrente USN
RM 3c Frank Daman USN
Lt(jg) Francis Drabinowicz USN
MM 2c Fred Edwards USN
MOMM 2c George Gerberich USN
SK 3c Robert Grant USN
MOMM 3c Ernest Greenfield USN
MOMM 3c Gerald Griffin USN
MOMM 1c LeRoy Holzworth USN
CBM George Lamprecht USN

Pages

Various Sources