FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A World War II subchaser has been sitting in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River for 80 years, and historians are investigating its mysterious journey inland.
According to the Charlotte Observer, East Carolina University has embarked on an “archaeological biography” to uncover how the USS Patrol Craft-1084, originally built to defend against German submarines, ended up more than 100 miles from the ocean.
Nathan Richards, a professor in the Program in Maritime Studies at East Carolina University, noted the creative reuse of such vessels post-war.
“People in the past were very creative with reuse,” he said. “They did not live in today’s ‘throwaway’ consumer culture.”
After World War II, the subchaser was sold for an estimated $5 a ton, a common fate for many military vessels of the era.
It was reportedly purchased by businessman Richard Minges in 1947 for around $2,250, which would be approximately $32,000 in 2025.
The subchaser was intended to be used as a floating dock near the Grove Street bridge in Fayetteville. However, unsubstantiated reports suggest it was later sold to Oscar Breece and his brother to be used at a site known as Breece’s landing.
The lack of concrete evidence about the vessel’s history has prompted ECU graduate student Harley Drange to investigate the ship’s past as a thesis project, which may take a year or more to complete, the Observer reported.
The PC-1084 was one of 973 patrol boats built during WWII, with many turned over to the U.S. Maritime Commission or the Department of State’s Foreign Liquidation Commission for disposal after the war.
Parts of the PC-1084 have reportedly been illegally salvaged for scrap metal, and the ship is rapidly deteriorating. Richards observed that during a recent visit, a flooding event caused significant damage to the vessel’s structure.
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