USS PC-542
# USS PC-542

USS PC-542 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was transferred to the French Navy under Lend-Lease in September 1944 and renamed Tirailleur.

## Career

PC-542 was laid down at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, on 26 February 1942; launched on 4 April 1942; and commissioned on 25 May 1942.

After commissioning, PC-542 ran convoys to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before sailing for the Mediterranean, arriving in Arzew, Algeria. She participated in the invasions of Scoglitti, Brolo, Salerno, and Anzio in Italy; and in Operation Dragoon—the invasion of Southern France.

On 30 September 1944, PC-542 was transferred to France under Lend-Lease, where she served as Tirailleur and was credited with shooting down two German aircraft in the Mediterranean.

She was condemned by the French Navy in 1957.

