USS SC-209
Submarine Chaser · United States · Lost 1918 · Long Island & the New York Approaches
A World War I U.S. Navy subchaser sunk by friendly fire from a ship in her own convoy off Long Island in 1918, killing 18.
The Vessel and Her Loss
Commissioned in March 1918, the wooden subchaser USS SC-209 was escorting a convoy off Long Island when she was mistaken for an enemy submarine in fog and shelled by the freighter SS Felix Taussig, one of the vessels under her protection, on August 27, 1918. Eighteen of her twenty-six-man crew were killed in what is recognized as the deadliest friendly-fire incident involving the U.S. Navy in World War I. Her wreckage has never been found.
Vessel
- 1918
- SC-209
- Mathis Yacht Building Company
- Camden, New Jersey
- Wood
- 110 ft
- 15 ft
- 85
- Gasoline, triple screw
- U.S. Navy
Loss
- August 27, 1918
- Enemy action
- South of Long Island, New York, at approximately 40°8'N, 73°12'W
- Atlantic Ocean, New York Bight
- Not established
- Not established
- 26
- 18
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Wreckage never located; wooden hull and most components not expected to survive
- Not established
- Not established
- Sunken U.S. naval vessel; wreck (if located) would be a U.S. government-owned war grave under federal law.
Position
- 40.13° N 73.20° W
- Reported, unconfirmed
- South of Long Island, New York
Position as recorded in Navy loss records at the time of the incident; wreck itself has never been located.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (80/100)
The wreck has never been located; any coordinates reflect the reported position of the incident, not a confirmed wreck site.
NavSource Online, Submarine Chaser Photo Archive
Build, commissioning, loss date, cause, position, casualty figures.
The Subchaser Archives (subchaser.org)
Service history and loss circumstances.
