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Submarine Chaser Photo Archive

Retort (PYc 49)



Call sign:
Nan - Yoke - Fox - Uncle

ex-PC-458



Enaj IV and Kooyong II call sign (1923/1930):
Mike - Fox - Jig - Cast

Kooyong II, Evelyn R II and Evelyn call signs (1935/1936/1946):
King - Love - King - Dog
Submarine Chaser/Coastal Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1923 as the steam yacht Enaj IV by George Lawley and Sons, Neponset, Massachusetts for Thomas G. Bennett of New Haven, CT; President of West Haven Shipyard
  • Acquired in 1930 by William E. S. Dyer of Philadelphia, PA and renamed Kooyong II
  • Registered in 1933 to the Kooyong Corp. of Philadelphia as the yacht Kooyong II
  • Acquired in 1936 by William R. Reid of Houston, TX; owner of the Houston Brick and Lumber Co. and renamed Evelyn R. II
  • Purchased 11 October 1940 by the War Shipping Administration
  • Partially converted to diesel engines at Galveston, TX
  • Conversion from steam to diesel completed at the Navy Yard Charleston, SC
  • Commissioned USS PC-458, 16 January 1941
  • Reclassified a Coastal Patrol Yacht, PYc-49 and named Retort 15 July 1943
  • Decommissioned 23 September 1944 at Philadelphia, PA
  • Struck from the Naval Register 14 October 1944
  • Transferred to the War Shipping Administration for disposal in October 1945
  • Acquired in 1946 by William Van Eijak of Willemstad, Curacao and renamed Evelyn
  • Out of service in 1948
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 164 t.
  • Length 120'
    1933 - 110.6'
  • Beam 20'
  • Draft 7' 6"
    1933 - 10.3'
  • Speed 12 kts.Complement: Five (1933)
  • Armament: One 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount, six .30 cal. machine guns, and two depth charge tracks
  • Propulsion: Two 6-cylinder Winton diesel engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    PC-458 80k Postcard dated 30 March 1944 Tommy Trampp
    Commanding Officers
    01LTJG Matthew Vaughn Carson, Jr., USNR - Awarded the Bronze Star with Combat "V" (1942)
    Retired as Captain, USN    		16 January 1941
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Retort (PYc 49)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command Website
    Additional Resources and Websites of Interest
    Patrol Craft Sailors Association
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