- Career
- External links
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image=Uss pc-815 1.jpg | Ship caption=USS PC-815, a similar PC-416 class submarine chaser
}}{{Infobox ship career | Ship country=United States | 1945}} | Ship name=USS PC-1261 | Ship builder=*Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company, | Ship laid down=20 November 1942 | Ship launched=28 February 1943 | Ship commissioned=May 1943 | Ship decommissioned= | Ship fate=sunk by shellfire off the coast of Normandy, 6 June 1944
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header=yes | Ship struck=29 July 1944
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | PC-461|submarine chaser|1}} | 280|LT|t|abbr=on}} (light)- {{convert|450|LT|t|abbr=on}} (full)
| 173|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}} | 23|ft|m|abbr=on}} | 10|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} | 5760|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} | Ship propulsion=*2 × Fairbanks Morse 38D8 1/8 diesel engines- 1 × Westinghouse single reduction gear
- 2 × shafts
| 20|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}} | Ship complement=65 | 3|in|mm|abbr=on}}/50 cal dual purpose gun, 1 × 40 mm gun, 3 × 20 mm cannons, 2 × rocket launchers, 4 × depth charge throwers, 2 × depth charge tracks
}} | USS PC-1261 was a {{sclass-|PC-461|submarine chaser}} built for the United States Navy during World War II. She is notable for being the first ship sunk during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, when she was hit by shellfire from German shore batteries. CareerPC-1261 was laid down on 20 November 1942 by the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and launched on 28 February 1943. She was commissioned in May 1943 and was sent to Europe and participated in the Normandy Landings. On 6 June 1944, PC-1261 led the first wave of landing crafts. While en route to the beach, she was struck by an artillery shell and foundered. She was the first ship sunk on D-Day. External links- USS PC-1261 (PC-1261)
- NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive PC-1261
- Chester County Hall of Heroes: John L. Maguire
{{PC-461 class submarine chaser}}{{Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company ships}}{{June 1944 shipwrecks}}{{DEFAULTSORT:PC-1261}}{{coord|49|30|N|01|10|W|display=title}}{{US-mil-ship-stub}} 6 : PC-461-class submarine chasers|Ships built in Wisconsin|1943 ships|World War II patrol vessels of the United States|World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel|Maritime incidents in June 1944 |