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Naval History and Heritage Command

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Antigo I (PC-470)

(PC-470: dp. 280; 1. 173'8"; b. 23'0"; dr. l0'l0"; s. 20.2 k. (tl.); cpl. 65; a. 2 3", 2 20mm., 2 dct, 2 dcp.; cl. PC-461)

A city in northeastern Wisconsin, Antigo is the seat of government for Langlade County. The word Antigo is of Indian origin and is said to refer to evergreens.

I

PC-470 was laid down on 27 February 1942 at Neponset, Mass., by George Lawley & Sons, Inc.; launched on 27 June 1942; and commissioned on 31 July 1942, Lt. R. E. Parker, in command.

Following shakedown, PC-470 began convoy escort duty between Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Coco Solo in the Panama Canal Zone. That assignment lasted from the summer of 1942 until June 1944. Then the subchaser moved from the Gulf of Mexico to San Diego, Calif., where she remained until 11 August. At that time, she moved on to Pearl Harbor. On 10 October, PC-470 departed Pearl Harbor on her way to the combat zone in the western Pacific. Staged by way of Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands, she was off the invasion beaches at Tacloban on Leyte Island in the Philippines on 20 October. There, the subchaser served as a control vessel guiding landing craft to their proper beaches. During her eight-day stay at Leyte, PC-470 engaged aircraft and came under fire from Japanese shore batteries. She suffered a hit from a projectile of approximately 75-millimeter caliber in one of her forward compartments. The explosion killed one sailor, injured several others, and caused a fair amount of damage to the ship.

PC-470 left Leyte on 27 October and headed for Hollandia, New Guinea. She stayed at Hollandia for about a month repairing the damage sustained at Leyte and then moved to Bougainville to join the force's preparing for the landings on Luzon. In mid-December, she moved to Manus with those forces to train for the Lingayen Gulf assault. From there, she voyaged to the Philippines during the first week in January 1945. The subchaser participated in the landings on 9 January 1945, again engaging enemy aircraft, and then began convoy duty. PC-470 provided antisubmarine protection for convoys between various islands of the western Pacific until the summer of 1945. In July, the warship arrived in Pearl Harbor to begin a badly needed overhaul. The war ended while she was still at Oahu, and the subchaser returned to the United States late in September.

PC-470 went to Portland, Oreg., where she began preparations for inactivation. By March of 1946, she was out of commission, berthed with the Columbia River Group, Pacific Fleet. The subchaser remained in reserve for a little more than 14 years. During that period, on 15 February 1956, she was named Antigo. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1960, and she was disposed of in a manner unspecified.

Antigo (PC-470) earned two battle stars during World War II as PC-470.

Published: Thu Jun 18 07:41:46 EDT 2015