| Navy | The US Navy |
| Type | Patrol craft |
| Class | PC-461 |
| Pennant | PC-781 |
| Built by | Commercial Iron Works (Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.) |
| Ordered | 27 Feb 1942 |
| Laid down | 11 Nov 1942 |
| Launched | 24 Dec 1942 |
| Commissioned | 9 Jul 1943 |
| End service | 14 Aug 1946 |
| History | Decommissioned on 14 August 1946 and placed in service as a naval reserve training vessel |
Commands listed for USS PC-781 (PC-781)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Stephen F Hopper, USNR | 9 Jul 1943 | Mid 1944 |
| 2 | William G Mann, Jr., USNR | Mid 1944 | Late 1944 |
| 3 | J W Dies, USNR | Late 1944 | Early 1945 |
| 4 | Lt. Francis Hopkinson, USNR | Early 1945 | Mid/late45 |
| 5 | Ensign John C. Wax, USNR | Mid/late45 | Late 1945 |
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Notable events involving PC-781 include:
25 Apr 1945
During 25 April 1945, USS Skate (T/Cdr. R.B. Lynch, USN) and USS Pipefish (T/Cdr. W.N. Deragon, USN) conducted exercises off Pearl Harbor with USS Pruitt (Lt. D.B. Harby, USNR), USS J. Douglas Blackwood (Lt.Cdr. J.L. Johnston, USNR) and USS PC-599 (Lt. J.M Kindt, USNR).
They were then joined for night exercises by USS Cabezon (T/Cdr. G.W. Lautrup, USN), USS Capitaine (T/Lt.Cdr. E.S. Friedrick, USN) and USS Chew (Lt.Cdr. J.J. Mannion, USNR).
Night exercises were then carried out with a group of transports simulating a convoy. The group of transports was made up of the following vessels; USS Carlisle (Lt.Cdr. M.J. Carley, USNR), USS Cleburne (Lt.Cdr. F.T. Callahan, USNR), USS Crenshaw (Cdr. W.B. Studley, USNR), USS Crittenden (T/Capt. P.C. Crosley, USN), USS Cullman (Lt.Cdr. W.B. Dell, USNR), USS Riverside (T/Capt. L.N. Miller, USN), USS Bandera (T/Capt. A.C. Thorington, USN), USS Beckham (T/Capt. A.R. Sodergren, USN), USS Buckingham (T/Capt. H.G. Moran, USN), USS Kingsbury (T/Cdr. J.H. Hughes, USN), USS Lander (T/Capt. J.D. Sweeney, USN), USS Pickaway (T/Capt. H.L. Bixby, USN), USS Rockbridge (T/Capt. W.W. Cone, USN), USS San Saba (T/Capt. E.E. Berthold, USN), USS Waukesha (Lt.Cdr. J.S. Herold, USNR), USS Winston (Lt.Cdr. E.S. Doty, USNR) and USS Prentiss (T/Cdr. G.P. Walker, USN). [A source give that 18 transports were present so perhaps there was one more that is not listed here]. The convoy was escorted by 9 escorts according to the source which also stated that 18 transports had been present. USS Chew was the escort leader and he three escorts that had been exercising with the submarines also joined the convoy. Most of the above transports had already been out for exercises for several days during which they had been escorted by USS PC-486 (Lt. R.B. Whitney, USNR), USS PC-781 (Lt. F. Hopkinson, USNR) and USS PC-1078 (Lt. J.R. Slater, USNR) which were still present. [That leaves two escort vessels still unaccounted for.]
The exercises were completed on the 26th.
17 May 1945
USS Hackleback (T/Lt.Cdr. F.E. Janney, USN) conducted exercises off Midway with USS PC-781 (Lt. F. Hopkinson, USNR) and USS ATR-26 (Lt. J.H. Kelly, USNR or Lt. R. MacLetchie, USNR) and USS ATR-63 (Lt. R.W. Coffey, USNR).