USS Ensenada (YAG-23) circa November 1942, looking aft from the forecastle
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Class: ENSENADA (YAG-23)
Design: Trawler-type cargo ship
Displacement (tons): 475 tons
Dimensions (feet): 141.3' x 26.2' x 11'.
Original Armament: 4-20mm
Later armaments: --
Complement: 37
Speed (kts.): 10
Propulsion (HP): 450
Machinery: MAN German diesel, 1 screw
Construction:
| YAG | Name | Acq. | Builder | Keel | Launch | Commiss. |
| 23 | ENSENADA | 4 Nov 42 | Walsum, Germany | -- | 1936 | 3 Mar 43 |
Disposition:
| YAG | Name | Decomm. | Strike | Disposal | Fate | MA Sale |
| 23 | ENSENADA | 15 Jun 46 | 19 Jul 46 | Aug 46 | FLC | -- |
Class Notes:
Funded by BuShips maintenance funds. Steel motor ship, engines aft as in a trawler, one large hatch amidships serving a hold divided into three refrigerated compartments, Maierform bow. Built by Gutehoffnungshütte Rheinwerft Walsum, Germany, for the Mexican Government. On 9 Jul 42 CominCh directed the procurement of the following vessels for duty in the South Pacific: S.S. ENSENADA of Mexican registry, three AK's with refrigerated space (AF 23-25), and seven large tuna clippers, also with refrigerated capacity (YP 514-520). ENSENADA's acquisition was again directed on 23 Jul 42 and she was finally purchased on 3 Nov 42 from General Abelardo Rodriques of Ensenada, Mexico and delivered and accepted on 4 Nov. After her Navy conversion, which began on 7 Nov 42, she had capacity for 280 tons of cargo, including 11,219 cubic feet of space for either frozen or chilled cargo or a combination of both. Placed in full commission 3 Mar 43, she was assigned to duty in the Service Squadron, South Pacific Force and delivered fresh food to Pacific Ocean islands where it was otherwise unobtainable. The ship initially operated between Auckland, New Zealand, and Guadalcanal, and added other South Pacific islands to her itinerary as the war moved north. The name ENSENADA was cancelled 1 Mar 45 because, according to CNO, the majority of the District Craft Auxiliary, Miscellaneous (YAG) were not named. In the spring of 1945 her German MAN diesel engine failed and she was taken to Auckland, New Zealand for repairs. The foreign-made engine could not be fixed in a reasonable time, however, and on 28 May 45 the ship was ordered transferred to the Marianas, either under tow or under her own power, for limited duty. She became a non-self-propelled barracks ship for boat crews in Apra Harbor, Guam, and an inspection board recommended in September 1945 that she remain in this service. Eventually found to be in bad condition, she was sold in August 1946 by the State Department's Foreign Liquidation Commission (FLC) to the International Trading Co. of Guam.
Ship Notes:
| YAG | Name | Notes |
| 23 | ENSENADA | Ex merc. ENSENADA (Mexican). Converted by Campbell Machine Works, San Diego. Name cancelled 1 Mar 45. Merc. PHILIPPINE TRADER 1946, AGNO 1950, MAGALLANES 1957, scrapped in the Philippines 1987. |
Page Notes:
YAG 1942
Compiled: 15 Nov 2008
© Stephen S. Roberts, 2002-2008