The Air Snipe (ex SC-1068) was laid down Dec 10th of 1942 as PC-1068 in Camden NJ by Mathis Yacht Building Company (later became John Trumpy & Sons); she was completed March 26th, 1943 and then reclassified and commissioned into the USN on April 13th, 1943 as SC-1068.
All told a series of small shipyards built 438 examples of this design, the SC-497 class subchaser : out of the 438 vessels of this type it is believed that less than 5 are currently still afloat! They were armed with a variety of ordnance, but the most common arrangement fielded a set of two mousetrap anti submarine projectors (four 37lb torpex filed rockets each), a forward gun (40mm Bofors, 3″-50 cal or 3″-23 cal), three 20mm Oerlikon auto cannons aft of the house, two K-gun depth charge launchers, and various roll off depth charge racks (Some smaller 30 cal and 50 cal machine guns have been reported as field fitted as well).
She served in the South Pacific during WWII conducting anti submarine patrols and assisting with convoy escort and screening of surface ships. The role of the Subchasers was expanded during this time to support numerous amphibious landings, provide offshore screening, and landing craft / beach control. After her time in the tropics, she was returned to the US mainland where she was decommissioned and transferred to the USCG on Feb 26th 1946 as an Air Class Rescue Cutter (WAVR).
The USCG used 70 of these vessels to perform search and rescue work as well as general “plane guard” for the large numbers of cargo planes and vessels returning home from overseas after WWII. Then on the 27th of Jan 1948 she was declared surplus and sold to a private owner.
After passing through three initial owners she came under the care of Albert Halvorsen on Sept 25th 1958, she was officially transferred into the Boyer Towing Fleet on May 13th 1959. Where she provided barge and freight service to Southeast Alaska. Becoming one of the very first vessels to establish barge service to Ketchikan, AK from Seattle, WA.
After living the life of a working tug for a number of years she was replaced in the fleet with larger and more modern ocean going tugs, however, she had gained a champion in her time as a civilian work boat. Kent Halvorsen became her biggest advocate and continued to care for the Air Snipe as she shifted roles from work boat to company “yacht”.
Keeping up on the maintenance and making repairs as the vessel aged; Kent oversaw the preservation and restoration of the Air Snipe for over half a century. In this time the Air Snipe became a fixture in Ward Cove and Ketchikan, AK; unfortunately as time marches on, Kent ended up having to spend less and less time on the vessel until his health finally prevented him from stepping on-board any longer. Kent’s son Pete had taken over the mantle of caretaker for much of this time as it became more difficult for Kent to fully care for the Air Snipe. Finally in Nov. of 2023 Kent ended up passing.
This left Boyer Halverson, namesake of Boyer towing with a dilemma; the Air Snipe needed someone that would keep her active and be able to maintain and care for the vessel. The thought of vetting new owners and finding the right fit seemed impossible. Through a series of happenstance Matt Levy & Kelly Thynes, who were actively involved in restoring the 1943 WWII 83ft USCG Cutter USCG-11 (83366) (which was a rescue boat off Omaha Beach during the D-Day Landings) were connected with the Halvorsens through mutual friends in Ketchikan, and after some discussion a plan was formed.
The Air Snipe was to head south again to allow the general public to explore and experience a very rare piece of WWII history which has also created it’s own Southeast Alaskan legacy after the war. As a tribute to Kent Halvorsen and all the hard working employees at Boyer Towing, who have preserved and expanded the legacy of the Air Snipe there is no better way to say thank you than to continue the work and share her story.