PC-542 was laid down at the Defoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan, on 26 February 1942; launched on 4 April 1942; and commissioned on 25 May 1942.
After commissioning, PC-542 ran convoys to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, before sailing for the Mediterranean, arriving in Arzew, Algeria. She participated in the invasions of Scoglitti, Brolo, Salerno, and Anzio in Italy; and in Operation Dragoon—the invasion of Southern France.
On 30 September 1944, PC-542 was transferred to France under Lend-Lease, where she served as Tirailleur and was credited with shooting down two German aircraft in the Mediterranean.
She was condemned by the French Navy in 1957.