USS SC-498

USS SC-498 was a SC-497 class submarine chaser that served in the United States Navy, and later the Free French Navy, during World War II.

USS PC-498 before her conversion into USS SC-498.
History
United States
Name	USS SC-498
Operator	United States Navy
Builder	Westergard Boat Works, Inc.
Laid down	12 March 1941
Launched	21 July 1941
Commissioned	29 April 1942
Fate	Transferred to France on 18 October 1944
France
Name	CH-142, and later P-696
Operator	Free French Naval Forces  French Navy
Acquired	18 October 1944
Fate	Unknown.
General characteristics
Class & type	SC-497 class submarine chaser
Type	submarine chaser
Displacement	148 tons
Length	110 ft 10 in (34 m)
Beam	17 ft (5 m)
Draft	6 ft 6 in (2 m)
Propulsion	2 × 880bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear 2 × shafts
Speed	15.6 knots
Complement	28
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun mount 2 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) caliber machine guns 2 × Y-guns 2 × ducts

She was laid down as PC-498 on 12 March 1941 by the Westergard Boat Works in Rockport, Texas, and launched on 21 July 1941. She was commissioned as USS PC-498 on 29 April 1942. She was later reclassified a SC-497 class submarine chaser and renamed SC-498.^[1]

She was transferred to the Free French Navy as part of the Lend-Lease program on 18 March 1944 as CH-142, and was later reclassified as P-696. Her exact fate is unknown.^[2]

See also

• Harbour Defence Motor Launch
• Wooden boats of World War II