Tooele PC-572

Tooele

(PC-572: dp. 270, 1. 169'7"; b. 20'9", dr. 8'7", s.
20.2 k. (tl.); a. 2 3"; cl. PC-bSl )

PC~72 was laid down on 27 September 1941 at Portland, Oreg., by the Albina Engine & Machinery Works, Inc.; launched on 28 February 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Ernest Haycox; and commissioned on 19 June 1942, Lt. Comdr. Arthur H. Middleton, USNE, in command.

The submarine chaser joined the Northwest Sea Frontier on 4 July and, after completing shakedown training on the 31st, began antisubmarine patrols in Puget Sound. On 31 August, she stood out for Kodiak, Alaska, and arrived there on 4 September. For the next five months, PC~72 served as an escort and on local antisubmarine patrols around Kodiak and Seward. In February 1943, she moved her base of operations to the Aleutian Islands and-in addition to antisubmarine patrols at Dutch Harbor, Adak, and Attu-escorted merchant ships through Akutan Pass into the Bering Sea.

The ship returned to Puget Sound in November and entered the navy yard there for an overhaul that lasted from 23 November 1943 to 25 February 1944. She escorted a convoy to San Diego and returned to Puget Sound to resume antisubmarine patrols. On 15 April, PC~72 joined Western Sea Frontier at San Francisco for antisubmarine and harbor entrance patrol duty.

On 3 September, operational control of PC~72 was shifted to Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, and she got underway for Hawaii on the 23d. The ship called at Pearl Harbor on 30 September and was routed on ward to the Marshall Islands. She arrived at Eniwetok on 15 October and began escorting convoys under Commander Task Force 96. The submarine chaser screened Allied shipping from Eniwetok to Saipan in October; to Peleliu and Ulithi in November; to Peleliu again in December 1944; and to Ulithi in January and February 1945. In March, she rendezvoused at the equator with merchant ships coming from the South Pacific and protected them as they steamed to Eniwetok.

In late April, PC~72 got underway for the Gilbert Islands and arrived at Tarawa on 13 May to assume duties as an air-sea rescue ship. On 19 October, she began the return voyage to the United States and, after stops at Makin, Majuro, and Hawaii, arrived at San Francisco on 6 December. On 31 December 1945, PC-572 got underway for the east coast and arrived at Charleston on 29 January 1946. She entered the navy yard for an overhaul and was ready for sea on 8 April.

The submarine chaser arrived at San Juan on 31 May 1946 and operated in the Caribbean until November 1949 when her home port was changed to Norfolk. During the next 10 years, the ship operated out of that base along the east coast, as well as from Washington, D.C., and Newport, R.I. On 15 February 1956, the ship was named Tooele. Tooele was decommissioned on 9 February 1959 at Green Cove Springs, Fla., and assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 July 1960.

Tooele received one battle star for World War II service.