USS YP-74

USS YP-74 (ex-Endeavor) was a converted fishing vessel which served as an auxiliary patrol boat in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

USS YP-74, 1940-1943
History
United States Navy
Name: YP-74
Launched: April 1937
Sponsored by: M.C. Wright, Seattle, Washington
Completed: 1937
Acquired: purchased by the U.S. Navy, November 1940
Commissioned: December 1940
Identification: ON 236639
Honours and
awards:
Fate: sunk after collision, 6 September 1942
General characteristics
Tonnage: 101 GRT[1]
Length: 72.1 ft (22.0 m) o/a[1]
Beam: 20.3 ft (6.2 m)[1]
Draught: 9.7 ft (3.0 m)[1]
Installed power: 200 bhp (150 kW)[1]
Propulsion: diesel engine[1]
Complement: 23
Armament: 1 x 3"/23 caliber gun[1]

History

She was built in Seattle, Washington for the benefit of M.C. Wright of Seattle.[1] She was launched in April 1937, completed later in the year,[1] configured as a purse seiner,[2] and christened Endeavor.[1][3] In November 1940, she was purchased by the United States Navy and commissioned in December 1940.[1] She was designated as a Yard patrol boat (YP).[1] Her armament consisted of a single 3"/23 caliber gun.[1] She was assigned along with two other converted fishing vessels (YP-72 and YP-73) to the newly created Alaska Sector of the 13th Naval District under Captain R. C. Parker who was tasked with building up the nearly absent Naval defenses of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.[4] In December 1941, Lieutenant John Backland USNR was named commanding officer.[1] Once in Alaska, she and her fellow YPs joined the former Coast Guard cutter Onondaga and the gunboat Charleston to form what was colloquially called the "Alaskan Navy."[4] Commandeer Charles E. ("Squeaky") Anderson, USNR, a "local character of infinite resource, energy, and cunning", was responsible for the YP fleet taking YP-72 as his flagship.[4] In March 1942, Lieutenant George White Snyder was named commanding officer.[1] On 6 September 1942, while en route with a group of Seabees, she collided with Alaska Steam Ship Company freighter SS Derblay in the fog off Unimak Island and sank at 54°20′N 164°50′W.[2] Although there were 21 survivors, 2 crew members and 2 passengers did not survive.[1] She was struck from the Naval List.[1]

References
  1. Priolo, Gary P.; Wright, David L. "Service Ship Photo Archive USS YP-74". NavSource - Naval Source History. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  2. Good, Captain Warren; Burwell, Michael (7 September 2018). Alaska Shipwrecks 1750-2015. ISBN 9781387981144.
  3. "Aleutian Heroes, the "Yippiees"". Pacific Motor Boat. April 1943. pp. 7–8.
  4. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume 5. United States Navy, Naval History Division. 1970. pp. 157–159. ASIN B000TRP0JU.
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