USS PC-1261

USS PC-1261 was a PC-461-class submarine chaser built for the United States Navy during World War II. She is notable for being the first ship sunk during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, when she was hit by shellfire from German shore batteries.

Career
PC-1261 was laid down on 20 November 1942 by the Leatham D. Smith Shipbuilding Company in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin and launched on 28 February 1943. She was commissioned in May 1943 and was sent to Europe and participated in the Normandy Landings.

On 6 June 1944, PC-1261 led the first wave of landing crafts. While en route to the beach, she was struck by an artillery shell and foundered. She was the first ship sunk on D-Day.