USS Small YAG's acquired October 1942-May 1945

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USS YAG-32 on 11 April 1945. This vessel initially served as USS Christiana (IX-80) and is described in the IX section.
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Class:        Small YAG's acquired October 1942-May 1945
Design:        Small acquired
Displacement (tons):        93 to 148 tons
Dimensions (feet):        61.3' x 29.2' to 100.0' x 19.2'
Armament:        Small or none

Construction:

YAG	Name	Acq.	Builder	Keel	Launch	Commiss.
28	YAG-28	22 Oct 42	Austin Levy, Bahamas	--	1940	25 Oct 42
30	YAG-30	4 Jan 43	Unknown	--	1915	4 Jan 43
31	YAG-31	13 Jan 43	Nilson & Kelez	--	1910	3 Aug 43
33	YAG-33	18 Nov 44	J. F. Duthie	--	1912	22 Nov 44
34	YAG-34	25 Jul 42	Houghton, Wash.	--	1924	Jul 42

Disposition:

YAG	Name	Decomm.	Strike	Disposal	Fate	MA Sale
28	YAG-28	13 Jul 45	13 Aug 45	25 Mar 46	MC/S	25 Mar 46
30	YAG-30	26 Nov 45	5 Dec 45	14 Oct 46	Sold	--
31	YAG-31	27 Dec 43	12 Feb 44	27 Dec 43	MC	--
33	YAG-33	2 Oct 45	24 Oct 45	10 Sep 46	MC/S	10 Sep 46
34	YAG-34	29 Oct 46	30 Dec 46	28 Nov 47	MC/S	20 Nov 47

Class Notes:
Funded by BuShips maintenance funds (YAG-28, 30-31, 34) and by transfer from another Government agency (YAG-33).

YAG-28 was acquired from Eleuthera Ltd., Hatchet Bay, Bahamas and was designated YAG-28 by OpNav on 28 Jan 43. She was placed in service at Miami, Florida. The vessel was designated for laying up in September 1944 but was instead reassigned to the Amphibious Training Base at Fort Pierce, Florida, where she served until being laid up in July 1945 at Miami. Sold in 1946 to Mervin Ferguson of Miami, Fla., she was not registered for postwar service as an American merchant vessel.

YAG-30 was requested by the Commandant, 13th Naval District, for use at the Naval Air Station, Seattle, Washington, and on 21 Dec 42 VCNO directed the acquisition of this vessel and asked WSA to requisition purchase her. She was acquired from the Puget Sound Freight Lines, Seattle, and was accepted at the Seattle Naval Station and placed in service without conversion. The vessel was designated YAG-30 by OpNav on 6 Apr 43.

YAG-31: On 14 Dec 42 the acquisition of this vessel was directed and WSA was asked to charter her. She was bareboat chartered from John S. York, Seattle, Washington, for the Bureau of Yards and Docks on 13 Jan 43 with a 6-months option. Com13 wrote on 20 Jul 43 that the vessel was being used as a dredge tender in the Alaskan Sector, that her contract arrangements were being changed, and that civilian labor was to be replaced with CB (Seabee) battalions. VCNO on 29 Jul 43 assigned her to the 13th Naval District for Alaska duty and requested she be placed in service as YAG-31. Com13 wrote on 7 Dec 43 that the Navy had no further use for this craft and requested authority to cancel the January 1943 charter and return her to her owner. After her return she re-entered service as the freight vessel DOROTHEA, was renamed DELPEN in 1952-53, and was still in service in 1972.

YAG-32 was the former lighthouse tender AZALEA, which had been acquired in November 1942 as USS CHRISTIANA (IX-80, q.v.) and was reclassified YAG-32 on 20 Nov 43. Her name was cancelled on 1 Mar 45 along with the names of YAG-11, YAG-15, and YAG-23. She is fully described in the IX section of this work.

YAG-33 was the whaler UNIMAK before World War II and became an Army vessel after the Navy cancelled her owner's whaling permit in 1942. On 30 Oct 44 CNO stated in a message that this vessel was surplus to Army needs and that the Navy desired her for important experimental work and had requested her transfer. On 11 Nov 44 CNO stated that she had been accepted from the Army without exchange of funds and directed that she be placed in service in the 13th Naval District. Com-13 accepted the vessel from the Port Embarkation service at Seattle a week later. She was used at the Keyport Naval Torpedo Station. Com-13 informed CNO on 4 Aug 45 that her duty was completed and recommended she be turned over to WSA for disposition. Her former owner, the American Pacific Whaling Co. of Bellevue, Wash., indicated they were interested in repurchasing her as soon as possible and she was re-registered as the whaler UNIMAK. However their whaling business never got off the ground again and UNIMAK was listed as abandoned in 1949.

YAG-34: The acquisition of this vessel was directed 8 Jul 42 and she was acquired on 25 Jul 42 from Kitsap County Transportation Co. Com-13 reported on 10 May 45 that she was equipped for ranging torpedoes and was assigned to the Keyport Naval Torpedo Station. Following receipt of this information, CNO assigned the classification YAG on 14 Jul 45 and BuShips assigned the identification number 34 on 31 Jul 45. The date placed in service was not recorded, though it probably occurred soon after her acquisition in July 1942. The 8-day discrepancy between the WSA (MC) sale dates in Navy and MC (MA) records as shown in the tables is unexplained--these records usually agree. Sold in 1947 to the Commercial Ship Repair Co., Seattle, she was not registered for postwar service as an American merchant vessel and was probably scrapped.

Ship Notes:

YAG	Name	Notes
28	YAG-28	Ex merc. SAMANA. Motor cargo vessel. 100 tons light (est.), 96' x 17' x 6.5', completed in 1941. Placed in service 25 Oct 42 at Miami, placed out of service 26 Nov 45.
30	YAG-30	Ex merc. V. P. HANDY. Small freighter. 105 tons gross, 83' oa x 24.7' x 5.4'. placed in service 4 Jan 43, out of service 26 Nov 45. Listed by MC for sale but withdrawn from MC sale list and returned to Navy as scrap on 3 Jun 46. Sold by Navy (NRM & DA), delivered to buyer 14 Dec 46.
31	YAG-31	Ex merc. DOROTHEA. Small wooden motor freighter. 116 tons gross, 94.0' x 19.5' x 9.6'. Placed in service 3 Aug 43 and out of service 27 Dec 43 at Seattle and simultaneously returned to her owner through WSA (MC).
33	YAG-33	Ex Army MAJ. J. R. WESSELY (numbered FS-80 circa Jul 42), ex merc. steam whaler UNIMAK. 148 tons gross, 100' x 19.2' x 12.3'. Placed in service as YAG-33 on 22 Nov 43, placed out of service 2 Oct 45.
34	YAG-34	Ex merc. HIYU. Wooden motor vessel. 93 tons gross, 61.3' x 29.2'. Acquired 25 Jul 42 and probably placed in service on or near this date. The hull classification and number were assigned in July 1945 when the Navy Department learned about the vessel.