Name USS PC-542 Commissioned 25 May 1942 Name Tirailleur Launched 4 April 1942 Beam 7.01 m | Laid down 26 February 1942 Decommissioned 30 September 1944 Construction started 26 February 1942 Length 53 m | |
Fate transferred to the French Navy, 30 September 1944 | ||
USS PC-542 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was transferred to the French Navy under Lend-Lease in September 1944 and renamed Tirailleur.
Career
PC-542 was laid down at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, on 26 February 1942; launched on 4 April 1942; and commissioned on 25 May 1942.
After commissioning, PC-542 ran convoys to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before sailing for the Mediterranean, arriving in Arzew, Algeria. She participated in the invasions of Scoglitti, Brolo, Salerno, and Anzio in Italy; and in Operation Dragoon—the invasion of Southern France.
On 30 September 1944, PC-542 was transferred to France under Lend-Lease, where she served as Tirailleur and was credited with shooting down 2 German planes in the Mediterranean.
She was condemned by the French Navy in 1957.