USS PC-815
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USS PC-815 was a PC-416 class subchaser assigned to the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet during World War II. PC-815 has gained some minor celebrity in recent years as the ship commanded by L. Ron Hubbard.
Commissioned in Portland, Oregon on April 20, 1943, Lieutenant (J.G.) L. Ron Hubbard in command, she served as a shore patrol vessel off the west coast of the United States for the remainder of the war.
Under Hubbard's command, the crew of the PC-815 fought a three-day battle in April 1943 in coastal waters off Astoria, Oregon with a mysterious contact claimed by Hubbard to be two Japanese submarines, but which the Navy later determined to be a known magnetic deposit on the seabed. A month later, the PC-815 conducted gunnery exercises involving the shelling of the Islas Coronados to the south-west of San Diego. Unfortunately for Hubbard, the islands belonged to neutral Mexico and were occupied by Mexican coastguards. The Mexican government complained and Hubbard was summarily relieved of command.
After Hubbard was replaced, PC-815 remained in San Diego as a shore patrol vessel but appears to have been mostly inactive during this period. She was restored to active duty on September 2, 1945 but on November 11, the ship collided with Laffey in dense fog off San Diego and sank within two minutes. One man (presumably from PC-815) was recorded as missing, presumed drowned.
Navy divers demolished the wreck in early November 1945. It is reported to be lying at Template:Coor dms in 90 feet of water and is said to be diveable.