Rexburg PCER-855

Rexburg

(PCER-855: dp. 903 (f.): 1. 184'6"; b. 33'1"; dr. 10'; s. 14 k.;
cpl. 110; a. 1 3", 2 40mm., 6 20mm., 3 dcp., 2 dct.)

Re~burg (PCER-855), a rescue escort, was laid down 8 December 1943 by the Pullman Car Manufacturing Co., Chicago, III.; launched 10 April 1944; and commissioned on 1 November 1944 as PCER-856 at New Orleans, La., Lt. Arnold C. Anderson in command.

After completion of shakedown in the Gulf of Mexico in January 1945, PCER 856 transited the Panama Canal and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 18 February for duty in the Pacific Fleet. She next sailed for Ulithi Atoll via Saipan to participate in the invasion of Okinawa.

The "855" operated in the waters around Okinawa until July, ehiefly involved in suDport and rescue work on the destroyer picket line surrounding Okinawa, and antisubmarine patrols in and around various anchorage sites. In August she commenced operations in Leyte Gulf, and until 2 December, she operated in Philippine waters and in the South China Sea.

PCER-855 touched at Guam 8 December, called at Pearl Harbor on 22 December for repairs, and arrived San Diego Calif., on 15 February 1946 for duties under the Navy Electronics Laboratory there. Redesignated EPCER-855 on 7 June 1946, she underwent alterations at Terminal Island Naval Shipvard, San Pedro, that enhanced her suitability for service as a laboratory research ship.

In October 1951 she was assigned to the 11th Naval District for duty out of San Diego, still under the operational control of the Navy's Electronics Laboratory. Subsequent scientific project assig;nments took her into coastal waters, and in 1955 she was christened Re~burg.

In October 1959 Rerburg came under the operational control of Operational Test and Evaluation Force, Pacific Projects Division, and she continued to conduct eler.tronic, communications, navigational, and underwater sound experiments.

Re~burg's operations have taken her to various west coast ports, as well as to Hawaii and Mexico. She shifted from the 11th Naval District to the Cruiser Destroyer Force, Pacific on 1 July 1967, and remained a unit of Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla Nine until decommissioned and struck from the Navy list on 2 March 1970. Rexburg's hulk was sold 28 October 1970 to the National Metal and Steel Corp., Terminal Island, Calif.