City of Pittsburgh Fire Dept Captain                       Steam Locomotive Fireman Stoker 1930's
                                                                                   (3rd from left standing on the cow-catcher)

                  SC-531 Coxswain                                                  Virginia and Harry

                           June 1930, Schenley High School's 17 year old, Harry Birch, winning 1930 City of 
                                 Pittsburgh HS Baseball Championship with an inside the park Home Run             

Background:
A.   Born 12/9/1913  Pittsburgh, Pa.
B.   Enlisted voluntarily at Selective Service Board #23 Hamilton & Lang Avenue   3/20/1944
         home address at enlistment: 7336 Fleury Way, Pittsburgh, Pa.
         wife : Virginia Anna Birch    Children : Harriett(6), Thomas(5), Robert(4)
         employment: City of Pittsburgh Fireman Nov 1942 to enlistment
         age at enlistment 30 years, 3 months    education = 12th grade
         5'8"  152 lbs., brown eyes, brown hair, ruddy complexion
C.   Ranks held during service: AS, S2/C, F1/C, S1/C, Coxswain (T)
D.   Total service time was 1 year, six months, 25 days
E.    Inducted as Apprentice Seaman, USN-1
F.    Training at U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Ill., Basic Engineering School.
          completed course in Basic Engineering, assigned to duty as a "striker' for an Engineering
          artificer rating F1C, 86.64 final mark, 181 of 385 class 7/19/44
G.    Stations:                                                               From          To               Rate
                     USNTS,                      Great Lakes, Ill.    3/21/44       5/18/44          AS & S2C
                     Servscolscom D,          Great Lakes, Ill.    5/18/44      7/19/44           S2C & F1C
                     Recsta, Shoemaker,     Calif.                     7/23/44      8/10/44           F1C
                     Recsta, Espiritu Santo, South Pacific         9/01/44      10/6/44           F1C
                     Subchaser SC-531,     South Pacific        10/6/44       10/4/45           F1C, S1C, Coxswain(T)
H.   Entitled to honorable discharge 10/4/45, transferred to USN Pers. Sep. Center, Great Lakes, Ill.
I.     Separation Date : 10/14/1945   Great Lakes, Ill.
       Rank : Coxswain(T)   qualified to wear the Asiatic-Pacific medal
       Total payment at discharge = $ 68.82  ( includes $25 for travel).
 

                                                                           SOURCES
                                                       SC-531 information compiled from the public records of :
                                                    1. The U.S. National Personnel Records Center
                                                    2. National Archives at College park, Md.
                                                    3. Family records and discussions
                                                    4. Conversations with SC-531 Commanding Officer Grant H. Wykhuis
                                                         of Marquette, MI.
                                                    5.  Email research assistance from subchaser experts, Navy veterans:
                                                           Henry Doscher, Jr. Author of "Subchaser InThe South Pacific"
                                                           Theodore R. Treadwell,
                                                               Author of "The Wooden Subchasers of World War II"
                                                           Jim Heywood ,Chairman, Patrol Craft Sailors Association,Cincinnati, OH
                                                           Duane”Bucky”Walters, Ship’s Store DirectorPatrol Craft Sailors Association
                                                           E.J. Comeau,  PC 553/1228, PCSA Historian,  Phoenix, Az.
                                                           Wesley E. Hall,  SC-995 Site   http://ww2.dixie-net.com/~wehall/SC995.html
                                                     6. Great Navy oriented web sites, such as:
                                                                 GREAT SUBCHASER SITES

     note from webmaster:
             The SC-531 web site is a work in progress, if you happen to visit this page
              and find any errors or have any feedback, please email me. More important, if you
              have any info on SC-531 and it's crew members or subchasers you can share, please
              email me at:
                                                     bob.birch@gmail.com