The PCER-848 class was an armed rescue ship built on the hull of the PCE (Patrol Craft Escort) by the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company in Chicago, Illinois. The ships were to serve three missions: damage control / firefighting; casualty treatment / evacuation; and patrol / guardship. Each ship's hospital contained 65 beds, with a surgical suite, and X-ray facilities. The medical department consisted of a staff of 11 doctors and hospital corpsmen.
Three ships of the class—PCER-848, -849 and -850—were refitted and their hospital spaces converted into communications centers to support the US Army's activities in the Pacific Theater.[2]
The ship was laid down on 6 October 1943 by the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company of Chicago, and launched on 8 February 1944. Commissioned as USS PCE(R)-850 on 17 April 1944, the ship was converted to a communications ship at Brisbane, Australia, in September 1944.
The ship was engaged in testing anti-submarine devices during the period of 1948–1950, based out of New London, Connecticut. It was named USS Fairview on 15 February 1956, and was reclassified as EPCE(R)-850, an Experimental Patrol Craft Escort (Rescue), in 1959.
The ship was decommissioned on 1 May 1968, and later sold.