View source for USS PC-815

{{Short description|PC-461-class submarine chaser}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox ship
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
 |image=Uss pc-815 1.jpg
 |image_caption=USS ''PC-815'' running trials 13 April 1943<br />on the [[Columbia River]]
 }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
 |country=United States
 |flag={{USN flag|1945}}
 |name= ''PC-815''
 |builder=[[Albina Engine & Machine Works]], [[Portland, Oregon]]
 |yard_number=
 |way_number=
 |laid_down=10 October 1942
 |launched=5 December 1942
 |commissioned=20 April 1943
 |decommissioned=
 |struck=
 |honors=
 |fate=Sunk after collision with {{USS|Laffey|DD-724|6}}, 11 September 1945, off the coast of San Diego
 }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
 |class={{sclass|PC-461|submarine chaser|1}}
 |displacement=295 tons fully loaded
 |length={{convert|173|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="navsource">{{cite web |url=https://www.navsource.net/archives/12/010815.htm |title=PC-815 |website=NavSources}}</ref>
 |beam={{convert|23|ft|m|abbr=on}}
 |draft={{convert|10|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
 |propulsion=2 × Hooven-Owens-Rentschler diesel engines (Serial No. 6977 and 6978), two shafts.
 |speed={{convert|20|knots|km/h}}
 |complement=59
 |armament=
* 1 × [[3-inch/50-caliber gun|3"/50 caliber]] dual purpose cannon
* 1 × [[Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun|Bofors 40 mm gun]]
* 3 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]s
* 2 × rocket launchers
* 4 (total) × [[Depth charge#Delivery mechanisms|K-guns]] and [[Mousetrap (weapon)|mousetraps]]
* 2 × depth charge racks
 }}
}}
'''USS ''PC-815''''' was a {{sclass|PC-461|submarine chaser}} built for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]]. Its first commander, for about eighty days in 1943, was [[L. Ron Hubbard]], who later became the founder of [[Scientology]]. After Hubbard was removed from command for conducting unauthorized gunnery practice in Mexican territorial waters, the ''PC-815'' served as a shore patrol vessel off [[San Diego]], [[California]].

In September 1945, the ship was lost along with one of her crew after colliding with the destroyer {{USS|Laffey|DD-724|6}}. ''PC-815''{{'}}s short career led to the vessel being dubbed the "jinxed sub-chaser".<ref name="sables">{{cite magazine |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200601/ai_n16063418/pg_1 |title=PC-815: The Jinxed Sub-Chaser! |first=Robert P. |last=Sables |author-link=Robert Sables |date=January 2006 |magazine=Sea Classics |volume=39 |number=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106022926/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200601/ai_n16063418/pg_1 |archive-date=6 November 2015}}</ref>

== Construction ==
''PC-815'' was laid down on 10 October 1942, at the [[Albina Engine and Machinery Works]] in [[Portland, Oregon]]. Her propulsion was two 1,440bhp [[Hooven-Owens-Rentschler]] R-99DA diesel engines (Serial No. 6977 and 6978), Westinghouse single reduction gear, two shafts.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.navsource.net/archives/12/010815.htm |title=PC-815 |website=NavSource |access-date=28 February 2007}}</ref>

The ''PC-815'' was fitted out commencing 5 December 1942, and was commissioned on 20 April 1943, with Lieutenant (j.g.) L. Ron Hubbard in command.<ref name="logbook">USS ''PC-815'' logbook, ''National Archives & Records Administration'', College Park, MD.</ref> A few weeks later she sailed down the [[Columbia River]] to [[Astoria, Oregon]], where she arrived on 17 May to take on supplies.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

On 18 May, the ''PC-815'' left Astoria for [[Bremerton, Washington]], where she was to have [[radar]] and [[depth charge]] launchers fitted. Her journey was interrupted by an [[air-sea rescue]] operation, then was resumed with a new destination&nbsp;— [[San Diego]].<ref name="logbook" />

== The "jinxed sub-chaser" ==

=== Claims of submarine contact off Cape Lookout ===
In the early hours of 19 May 1943, the crew of ''PC-815'' detected what Hubbard thought was first one, then later two [[Imperial Japanese Navy submarines]] approximately {{convert|10|nmi|km}} off the shore of [[Cape Lookout (Oregon)|Cape Lookout, Oregon]]. Both the [[sonar]] operator and Lt. Hubbard thought that the echo of an [[Active sonar#Active sonar|active sonar ping]], combined with apparent engine noises heard through the ship's [[hydrophone]], indicated contact with a submarine.<ref>"Proceeding southward just inside the steamer track an echo ranging contact was made by soundman then on duty, <NAME REDACTED>, Soundman third class. The Commanding Officer had the conn and immediately slowed all engines to ahead one third to better echo ranging conditions, and placed the contact dead ahead, 500 yards away." and "Screw noises, fluttering and without pulsation, were distinct on the bearing and quite different from the pulsations of our screws." [[:Image:Batrep01.gif|Page 1 of Hubbard's report]] Image: Page one of Lt. Hubbard's report.</ref>

Over the next 68 hours, the ship expended 37 depth charges in a "battle" that also involved the U.S. Navy [[K-class blimp|blimp]]s ''K-39'' and ''K-33'', the [[United States Coast Guard]] patrol boats ''Bonham'' and 78302, and the subchasers USS ''SC-536'' and USS ''SC-537'', all summoned to act as reinforcements. ''PC-815'' was finally ordered back to base on 21 May.<ref>Hubbard, ''Anti-Submarine Action by Surface Ship, Report of'', 24 May 1943.</ref>

In his eighteen-page after-action report, Hubbard claimed to have "definitely sunk, beyond doubt" one submarine and critically damaged another. However, the subsequent investigation by the Commander NW Sea Frontier, Vice Admiral [[Frank Jack Fletcher]], cast a skeptical light on Hubbard's claims. His summary memorandum to Fleet Admiral [[Chester W. Nimitz]], stated:

:It is noted that the report of ''PC 815'' is not in accordance with "Anti-Submarine Action by Surface Ship" (ASW-1) which should be submitted to Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet. An analysis of all reports convinces me that there was no submarine in the area. Lieutenant Commander Sullivan states that he was unable to obtain any evidence of a submarine except one bubble of air which is unexplained except by turbulence of water due to a depth charge explosion. The Commanding Officers of all ships except the ''PC-815'' state they had no evidence of a submarine and do not think a submarine was in the area.<ref>"Battle Report – Submission of.", A16-3(3)/PC815, Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher, Commander NW Sea Frontier, 8 June 1943; [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Batconcl.gif Image of document] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080117000000/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Batconcl.gif |date=17 January 2008 }}</ref>

Fletcher added that "there is a known magnetic deposit in the area in which depth charges were dropped",{{citation needed|date=August 2025}} absolving the responding blimps from any fault, because their method of detecting submarines relied on a [[Magnetic Anomaly Detector]]. This also implied that Lt. Hubbard and his crew were operating the ship's [[sonar]] equipment incorrectly.<ref>"At 0906 (see radio log) two U.S.N. anti-submarine blimps appeared, K-39 and K-33. While we held contact they investigated and announced to us that they had a magnetic contact where we were holding a sound contact." [[:Image:Batrep04.gif|Page 4 of Hubbard's report]]</ref> After the war, British and American analysis of captured Japanese Navy records confirmed that no Japanese submarines had been lost off the Oregon coast.<ref>HM Admiralty, ''German, Italian and Japanese U-Boat Casualties during the War: Particulars of Destruction'', Cmd. 6843 (June 1946); US Department of the Navy, ''Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses during World War II by All Causes'' (February 1947)</ref> Hubbard, however, never accepted that he had been mistaken about the "battle." Both he and Tom Moulton, one of his officers, claimed that the official denials of any Japanese submarine presence off the Pacific coast had been motivated by a desire to avoid panic among the U.S. population.<ref name=Streeter208>{{cite book |last=Streeter |first=Michael |date=2008 |title=Behind Closed Doors: The Power and Influence of Secret Societies |location=London, UK |publisher=New Holland Publishers |page=208 |isbn=978-1-84537-937-7}}</ref> Years later, Hubbard told Scientologists:

:I dropped the [[Japanese submarine I-176|''I-76'']] or the Imperial Japanese Navy Trans-Pacific Submarine down into the mouth of the Columbia River, dead duck. And it went down with a resounding furor. And that was that. I never thought about it again particularly except to get mad at all the admirals I had to make reports to because of this thing, see? This was one out of seventy-nine separate actions that I had to do with. And it had no significance, see? But the other day I was kind of tired, and my dad suddenly sprung on me the fact that my submarine had been causing a tremendous amount of difficulty in the mouth of the Columbia River. Hadn't thought about this thing for years. Of course, it's all shot to ribbons, this thing. It's got jagged steel sticking out at all ends and angles, and it's a big submarine! It's a&nbsp;— I don't know, about the size of the first [[USS Narwhal (SS-167)|''Narwhal'']] that we built. And the fishermen coming in there and fishing are dragging their nets around in that area, and it's just tearing their nets to ribbons&nbsp;— they've even hired a civilian contractor to try to blow the thing up and get it the devil out of there&nbsp;— and has evidently been raising bob with postwar fishing here for more years than I'd care to count.<ref>Hubbard, "Auditing Techniques&nbsp;— Games Conditions", lecture of 1 February 1957</ref>

However, the mouth of the Columbia River is some 75 miles north of Cape Lookout, the area in which Hubbard's naval reports claimed his anti-submarine action took place.

Moreover, the Japanese submarine [[Japanese submarine I-176|''I-76'']] (renamed ''I-176'' by that time) was based in [[Chuuk Lagoon|Truk]] and operated only in the south Pacific during the time when Hubbard was in command of ''PC-815''. The I-176 was sunk in the [[Coral Sea]] in May 1944 and removed from the Japanese Navy List on 10 July 1944 – a year after Hubbard was relieved of command of the ''PC-815''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-176.htm |first1=Bob |last1=Hackett |first2=Sander |last2=Kingsepp |name-list-style=amp |title=IJN Submarine I-176: Tabular Record of Movement |website=CombinedFleet.com |access-date=23 November 2015 |archive-date=20 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020003020/http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-176.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Unauthorized shelling of Coronado Islands and failure to follow orders ===
In June 1943, the ''PC-815'' traveled to [[San Diego]], which was to become her home port. She arrived there on 2 June, and at the end of June was ordered to sea to join an anti-submarine training exercise.<ref name="logbook" /> The exercise, held on 28 June, ended early. Hubbard took the opportunity to order an impromptu gunnery exercise while anchored just off the [[Mexico|Mexican]] territory of [[South Coronado Island]], to the south-west of San Diego. The Mexican government sent an official protest to the U.S. Government, as no gunnery operations had been scheduled.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

[[File:Uss pc-815 2.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Another view of {{nowrap|USS ''PC-815''}} on trials.]]
On 30 June a Board of Investigation was convened concerning ''PC-815''. It concluded that Hubbard had disregarded orders, both by conducting gunnery practice and by anchoring in Mexican territorial waters without proper authority. His orders stated that the ''PC-815'' was supposed to return after completing that day's training. Hubbard argued that his crew was inexperienced, it was foggy, and he was tired so he did not return to port as ordered. But a month earlier in his after action report concerning the fiasco off Cape Lookout, he had described the same men as "experienced" and "highly skilled".{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

Vice Admiral Fletcher, who both chaired the board and read the prior after action report, rated Hubbard "below average" and noted: "Consider this officer lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation. He acts without forethought as to probable results. He is believed to have been sincere in his efforts to make his ship efficient and ready. Not considered qualified for command or promotion at this time. Recommend duty on a large vessel where he can be properly supervised". Hubbard was relieved of command effective 7 July 1943.<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Russell |author-link=Russell Miller |date=1987 |title=Bare-faced Messiah: The true story of L. Ron Hubbard |location=London, UK |publisher=Michael Joseph Ltd. |page=106 |isbn=978-0-7181-2764-0}}</ref>

== Collision with USS ''Laffey'' ==
After Hubbard was replaced, ''PC-815'' remained in San Diego as a shore patrol vessel, but appears to have been mostly inactive. According to her Movement Card she took part in the occasional offshore patrol, participated in training exercises, and escorted submarines in and out of the harbor. She was restored to active duty on 2 September 1945, but at 6:47&nbsp;a.m. on 11 September, the ship collided with the destroyer {{USS|Laffey|DD-724|6}} in dense fog off San Diego. The collision started a fire on board ''PC-815'', which sank within five minutes. One man from ''PC-815'' was recorded as missing, presumed drowned. The ''Laffey'' suffered significant damage, with the fire from ''PC-815'' spreading into one of the destroyer's compartments.<ref name="sables" />

Navy divers demolished the wreck in early November 1945 due to the navigation hazard that it posed to a busy shipping channel. It is reported to be lying at {{Coord|32|37|54|N|117|14|12|W}} in {{convert|90|ft|m}} of water and is said{{by whom?|date= July 2025}} to be diveable.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.divebums.com/Wrecks/PC815.html |title=Wrecks: USS PC-815 |website=San Diego Divebums |access-date=2014-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717003143/http://www.divebums.com/Wrecks/PC815.html |archive-date=2012-07-17}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of patrol vessels of the United States Navy]]
*[[Military career of L. Ron Hubbard]]
*{{USS|YP-422}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}{{PC-461 class submarine chaser|2|state=autocollapse}}
{{L. Ron Hubbard}}
{{September 1945 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:PC-0815}}
[[Category:PC-461-class submarine chasers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:1942 ships]]
[[Category:World War II patrol vessels of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1945]]
[[Category:Maritime accidents involving fog]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:L. Ron Hubbard]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]