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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

USCGC Smith (CGSC 155)



Call sign (1922):
George - Vice - King - Quack

Call sign (1933):
Negative - Roger - King - Sail

Cannery Tender Smith call sign:
William - Dog - Nan - Zebra

ex-USS SC-155



Call sign (1919):
George - Boy - Tare - Jig

Call sign (1919):
Nan - Oboe - Love - Dog


SC-155 served both the U. S. Navy and Coast Guard
SC-1 Class Submarine Chaser:

  • Built by the Gibbs Gas Engine Co., Jacksonville, FL
  • Commissioned USS SC-155, 11 April 1918 at Charleston, SC
  • Transferred to the Coast Guard 22 November 1919 at Key West, FL and commissioned USCGC Smith (CGSC 155)
  • Named for Coxswain John Smith, USCG of Libau, Russia, whose real name was Peter Skelte, enlisted in April 1917, a member of the torpedoed USCGC Tampa, lost during World War I
  • In 1923 she was sent to the West Coast and remained stationed at Ketchikan, AK until 1925, then stationed at Oakland, CA
  • Decommissioned 2 June 1937
  • Acquired sometime after World War II by the Emard Packing Company of Anchorage, AK for use as a cannery tender
  • Foundered 19 August 1951 in the Gulf of Alaska 10 miles east of Middleton Island after her seams opened while towing a barge. The tow was to much for the old wooden timbers to take.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 85 t.
    1933 - 83 t.
  • Length 110'
  • Beam 14' 8.75"
  • Draft 5' 8"
    1933 - 5" 11"
  • Speed 18 kts.
  • Complement 27
  • Armament: One 3"/23 gun mount, two .30 cal. machine guns and one depth charge projector "Y Gun"
  • Propulsion: Three 220shp Standard gasoline engines, three shafts
    Replaced by three Hall-Scott "Explorer" reduction gear diesel engines.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS SC-155
    SC-155 127k Key West, FL
    Photo from the collection of William B. May, CO of SC 292, Courtesy of his daughter, Penny Thompson
    Photo from the Subchaser Archives    		 William Power
    USCGC Smith (CGSC 155)
    SC-155 100k Photo from the March 1931 edition of MotorBoating magazine William Power
    Cannery Tender Smith
    SC-155 179k Going down by the stern with the owners auto on deck
    Photo from the June 1955 edition of Proceedings of the Merchant Marine Council, United States Coast Guard    		 William Power
    Commanding Officers
    01Chief Boatswain Howard S. Kerner, USNRF1918
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    There is no DANFS history available for SC-155
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Patrol Craft/Gunboat/Submarine Chaser Ship Index Back to the 110' Submarine Chaser (SC) Photo Index
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by Tom Bateman
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