USS Small YAG's acquired July-December 1941

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USS YAG-7, probably bringing a pilot to a merchant ship
Click on this photograph for links to larger images of these ships.

Class:        Small YAG's acquired July-December 1941
Design:        Small acquired
Displacement (tons):        131 to 458 tons
Dimensions (feet):        94.2' x 25.0' to 158.5' x 33'
Armament:        Small or none

Construction:

YAG	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
2	YAG-2	19 Jun 41	Hong Kong	--	1931	19 Jun 41
3	YAG-3	25 Jun 41	Hong Kong	--	1926	25 Jun 41
4	YAG-4	25 Jun 41	Hong Kong	--	1931	25 Jun 41
5	YAG-5	11 Dec 41	J. F. James	--	1924	27 Mar 42
6	YAG-6	19 Dec 41	George S. Lawley & Sons	--	1911	8 Jan 42
7	YAG-7	27 Dec 41	Burmeister & Wain E&S	--	1924	1 Jan 42

Disposition:

YAG	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
2	YAG-2	--	22 Feb 43	2 Jan 42	Lost	--
3	YAG-3	--	22 Feb 43	2 Jan 42	Lost	--
4	YAG-4	--	22 Feb 43	2 Jan 42	Lost	--
5	YAG-5	May 43	28 Jun 44	8 Mar 46	MC/S	8 Mar 46
6	YAG-6	27 Jun 46	19 Jul 46	30 Aug 46	MC/S	30 Aug 46
7	YAG-7	17 Jul 45	13 Aug 45	11 Mar 46	MC/S	11 Mar 46

Class Notes:
Funded by BuShips maintenance funds. These six small vessels were acquired during 1941.

YAG 2-4 were acquired from the North Negros Sugar Co., Manapla, Philippines. The acquisition of all three was directed 2 Jun 41. YAG-2 was delivered at the Cavite Navy Yard and placed in service on 19 Jun 41, while the other two were similarly delivered and placed in service on 25 Jun 41. Inspections of all three vessels were completed by a local board on 11 Jul 41. On 11 Jul 41 CNO directed the Commandant, 16th Naval District (Philippines) to put the three ships in full commission as soon as sufficient personnel were received and the ships were habitable (this does not appear to have been done). On 8 Oct 41 Com-16 reported that the three conversions were due to start at the end of October at Cavite and be completed by 15 December. On 25 Oct 41 Com-16 reported that YAG-2 was to be fitted as a net tender with two drum winches, new cargo booms, A-frames at the bow and on the sides, near the mainmast, and flush forward decks. YAG 3-4 were to be fitted as minesweepers, including the addition of small magnetic sweep gear and winches, and YAG-4 was reported to have begun conversion. Washington received no further reports on these vessels, and all three were probably lost in the Japanese bombing of the Cavite Navy Yard in December 1941 or soon afterwards. Navy records show all three as lost on 2 Jan 42.

BREAKING NEWS ON YAG 2-4: A correspondent (thank you!) has informed me that MANAPLA (YAG-4) was not lost at Cavite during the raid of 10 December 1941. She was shown on a list of Inshore Patrol vessels with a CBM [Chief Boatswain's Mate] Galvez, Insular Force, listed as commanding officer, and her name was mentioned several times in documents as having operated in the Bataan area, most notably evacuating personnel when Mariveles was evacuated on 9 April 1942. Her fate is best described in this succinct entry in COMINSHPAT (Commander, Inshore Patrol) 16th Naval Distorict's Operations Log, page 215: "[12 April 1942] 1235 Yard-4 [i.e. YAG-4], ex MANAPLA, sunk by gunfire in South Harbor [Corregidor], 500 yards off shore." YAG-2 was salvaged by the Japanese army and named YAMASHIRO MARU, her final fate is unknown. YAG-3 probably did not make it out of Cavite.

YAG 5-6 were auxiliary schooners acquired at San Pedro, California, from their owner, Morgan Adams. CNO designated them AGb (possibly Base Miscellaneous Auxiliary) on 17 Dec 41 (AGb-1, ex RADIO) and on 20 Dec 41 (AGb-2, ex ENCHANTRESS), but on 31 Dec 41 directed that their designations be changed to YAG-5 and YAG-6. They were used as examination and pilot vessels off San Pedro. In September 1942 IX-74 (ex METHA NELSON) was being acquired to replace YAG-6. YAG-5 was selected for laying up on 13 Apr 43 and both were laid up by 3 May 43. On 24 Jan 44 CNO informed the Commandant, 11th Naval District, that the U.S. Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory at San Diego needed two vessels for underwater sound investigations it was conducting with the University of California Division of War research. One of these had to be an auxiliary sailing vessel and available full time, while the other would be required on a part time basis. CNO designated two candidates for the auxiliary sailing vessel, ARANER (IX-57), then on a weather station project, and YAG-6. The Laboratory preferred YAG-6, and YAG-6 was placed back in service with the crew of IX-57 on 8 Aug 44.

YAG-7 began life as the 640 ton motor yacht VEDETTE, built in Denmark in 1924 for F. W. Vanderbilt of New York. In 1939 she was owned by Margaret Louise Van Alen of Newport, R.I., who on 27 Mar 39 sold her to the Association of Maryland Pilots for use as a pilot boat at Baltimore. The pilots on 4 Dec 41 refused the Navy's offer to purchase the vessel, and instead the Maritime Commission requisitioned her and delivered her to the Navy on 27 Dec 41.

YAG 8-9 became AG 47-48 (q.v.). The number YAG-10 is listed as "not used," and its intended recipient has not been identified.

Ship Notes:

YAG	Name	Notes
2	YAG-2	Ex merc. ROBERT O., ex HOI KONG (rendered HAI KONG in USN records). Steel, diesel, 288 tons gross, 128.4' x 25.6' x 7.6'. Built by South China Motor SB & Repair Works Ltd., Hong Kong. Converted at the Cavite Navy Yard (estimated completion date 1 Dec 41). Probably lost by enemy action at Cavite.
3	YAG-3	Ex merc. PAZ II. Steel, diesel, 237 tons, 120' x 24.1' x 7.7'. Built by Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co. Converted at the Cavite Navy Yard (estimated completion date 15 Dec 41). Probably lost by enemy action at Cavite. Later Japanese YAMASHIRO MARU.
4	YAG-4	Ex merc. MANAPLA. Steel, diesel. 248 tons gross, 125.75' x 24.1' x 7.5'. Built by Hong Kong & Whampoa Dock Co. Converted at the Cavite Navy Yard (estimated completion date 15 Dec 41). Sunk by gunfire in South Harbor, Corregidor (see class notes).
5	YAG-5	Ex merc. RADIO. Auxiliary schooner yacht, diesel propulsion. 131 tons gross, 110.0' oa, 85.0' pp x 25.6' x 16.5', 7 knots. Placed in service 27 Mar 42 at the Section Base at San Pedro, Calif. Used as station vessel. Laid up by 3 May 43.
6	YAG-6	Ex merc. ENCHANTRESS. Auxiliary schooner yacht, gasoline propulsion. 250 tons, 136.0' oa, 100.0' pp x 27.0' x 15.0'. In service 8 Jan 42 at San Pedro. Laid up by 3 May 43. Placed back in service on 8 Aug 44 for duty with the Naval Radio Sound Laboratory. Out of service 27 Jun 46.
7	YAG-7	Ex pilot boat BALTIMORE, ex yacht VEDETTE. Diesel, 458 tons gross, 158.5' oa, 148.0' pp x 26.2' x 11.0', 1-3pdr (later 1-6pdr). Acquisition directed 21 Nov 41. Placed in service 1 Jan 42. Converted by Norfolk SB & DD Co., entered service 6 Feb 42. Used as station vessel at Little Creek, Va.