the engines) that were welded to the ship's hull. These bedplates distributed the engine's weight along the hull. Base engineering confirmed that poor welding during construction was responsible for the cracks. The base engineer also stated that a heavy sea could shift the engines off their supports and sink the ship. As a result, PC-1264 was relieved from duty and towed to the Navy Yard Annex, at Bayonne, New Jersey. This may have saved the lives of the crew, as the convoy they were preparing to escort later encountered a hurricane with heavy seas. In all probability, PC-1264 would have been lost. After the ship was repaired and passed sea trials, PC-1264 reported again to its Tompkinsville base. It was there, during the first week of November, that the eight white Petty Officers received orders detaching them from PC-1264, and their places were taken by eight, newly promoted, black Petty Officers. Independent anti-submarine duty In early January 1945, as PC-1264 and other escort ships were sailing with a convoy to Key West, the command vessel received a radio message from Eastern Sea Frontier headquarters detaching three of the ships, including PC-1264, and ordering their return to New York. While PC-1264 would escort one more convoy during the war, her primary mission now was anti-submarine duty. The capture of German spies landed by during November 1944, and the statement by one of the spies that the Germans were preparing to launch V-1 and V-2 rockets by submarines against major U.S. ports, forced the U.S. Navy to respond by increasing its active anti-submarine forces. PC-1264 was part of that increase and began patrolling areas from Long Island south to Cape Charles, the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay. On 17 January, PC-1264 unloaded her ammunition, then proceeded to the Luders Marine Construction Company in Stamford, Connecticut, to have her bottom cleaned and receive a new coat of paint on her underwater hull. She arrived on 18 January and was in drydock for three days. For the next three months, PC-1264 patrolled a line running north by east for from Buoy "Able," the farthest seaward buoy marking the mine-swept channel into New York, away. Despite the monotony and the winter weather, the duty was pleasant, as PC-1264 spent seven days at sea and then five days in port. On 28 February, while engaged in a practice "anti-submarine' run against Buoy Able, PC-1264 may have