Sub Chasers were built in Rockport, Texas
Did you know that several Sub Chasers were built in Rockport during World War II?
During the early months of World War II, Rockport’s Westergard-Rice Brothers and Co shipyard became a crucial player in the fight to protect Atlantic shipping from German U-Boats. They were one of 39 shipyards awarded contracts to build wooden hulled submarine chasers.
These vessels, officially known as SCs, measured 110 feet in length, displaced 95 tons, and could reach speeds of 12 knots.
The crew, consisting of 24 enlisted men and three officers, had limited training, typically lasting six weeks, before being deployed. The living conditions aboard these subchasers were extremely cramped.
President Franklin Roosevelt’s push for re-armament led to defense contracts, with each subchaser costing $325,000 to manufacture. The Rockport shipyard commenced its production, launching the first Navy vessel into Aransas Bay on July 4, 1941, just months before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Most of the Rockport built sub chasers survived the war, but only a handful of the hundreds built nationwide are known to still be afloat and there are no known.surviving examples from the Rockport Shipyard.
nformation sourced from Texas Tales, Author Mike Cox and the Naval Marine Archive
