Welcome aboard the USS ERIE web site…


The Ship’s Data page on this site provides complete specifications for this gunboat, her size, equipment and weaponry at the time of her last overhaul, which occurred in late July through mid-September 1942.

Five  Photo Galleries are currently available.  They depict the vessel under construction at the New York Navy Yard and at various locations after her commissioning on July 1, 1936.  Also available are images taken of different sections of the ERIE, of her officers and enlisted men, and of "Crossing the Line" ceremonies aboard the ERIE.

The section covering the Attack on the ERIE on 12 November, 1942, includes copies of all the official documents concerning the attack and a series of photos taken after the ship was beached on a narrow shelf, a few miles north of Willemstad, Curacao, Netherlands West Indies.

The section describing the Loss of the ERIE includes the Commanding Officer's report detailing efforts to prepare the ERIE for hauling to a U.S. base for repair and refurbishing, a series of photos taken three days before she capsized and sank on December 5, 1942, a copy of the Bureau of Ships investigative report on the loss of the ERIE (War Damage Report No. 31) and a copy of the official orders directing the transportation of most of the ERIE’s crew from Guantanamo Bay to New York City.

Finally, the section on the ERIE’s Attacker focuses on the U-163, her posting to the Caribbean in October 1942, her attack on convoy TAG-20 (and the ERIE), her other war patrol activities, and her ultimate demise in the Spring of 1943, when attacked by a Canadian corvette, HMCS PRESCOTT.

Click on any of the links on the left to begin your tour of this site. If you would like to receive e-mail notification of future additions and changes to this website, or, if you have comments you would like to make, please contact the webmaster.