USS PC-823 was laid down on 2 June 1943 at the Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Corp. in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin; launched on 15 January 1944; and commissioned on 24 July 1944. PC-823 served in the western Atlantic Ocean during World War II, being assigned to air-sea rescue duties during at least some of that time. On 11 February 1946, PC-823 decommissioned and transferred to the United States Maritime Commission. She was transferred to the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, New York on 18 May 1948, and renamed Ensign Whitehead as a training ship. Her name was struck from the Navy List in June 1948. In September 1949, she was transferred to the Republic of Korea Navy and renamed ROKS Baekdusan (PC-701).