Louisiana's Military Heritage:

     Vessels named USS OBERLIN

USS OBERLIN

Only one vessel of the U.S. Navy has had the honor to bear the name of OBERLIN, representing not only the oldest town in Allen Parish, Louisiana, but also sister cities in Kansas and Ohio.

USS OBERLIN (June 17, 1943 ~ January 28, 1947):

USS OBERLIN (PC-560) was one of the first thirty-six submarine chasers to be built with a steel hull.  Earlier sub chasers had simply been private yachts acquired by the Navy and converted for use in combating submarines.  Laid down on November 25, 1941, by Jeffersonville Boat Company of Jeffersonville, Maryland, she was launched on November 17, 1942, and sponsored by Mrs. L. C. Holm.  She was commissioned into the fleet on June 17, 1942.

The new submarine chaser proceeded to Key West, Florida, for fitting out and shakedown, which she completed on July 25, 1942.  She then served as a training craft at the Submarine Chaser Training Center in Key West until ordered to the Panama Canal Zone in December of 1943.  OBERLIN operated out of Coco Solo in the Canal Zone through the end of World War II, escorting convoys and serving as an anti-submarine and harbor entrance patrol craft.  In December of 1945, she was assigned Reserve Training duty out of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Decommissioned on January 28, 1947, and placed in the reserve fleet, she was berthed at Green Cove Springs, Florida, for the next ten years.  OBERLIN was struck from the Naval Register on September 05, 1957, and sold to F & A Transportation of New Jersey, Inc. in New York City.

Ship's Statistics

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All information on USS OBERLIN courtesy of the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and NavSource.
Photos courtesy of U.S. Navy unless otherwise noted.

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