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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Taupata (YAG-26)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive, 5 April 1943)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Self-propelled Wooden-hulled Miscellaneous Auxiliary Service Craft:
  • Built by G.T. Niccol, Auckland, NZ
  • Completed for Anchor Shipping & Foundry Co., Nelson, NZ, as Taupata (British ON 153922), 1930
  • Acquired by the US Navy from the New Zealand government under reverse Lend-Lease, 10 November 1942
  • Designated District Miscellaneous Auxiliary and commissioned USS Taupata (YAG-26) at Auckland, New Zealand, same day
  • Assigned to Service Squadron, South Pacific Force (DANFS incorrectly says she served at Pearl Harbor)
  • Decommissioned at Auckland and returned to owner, 24 April 1944
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 16 May 1944
  • Sold to Pearl Kasper Shipping Co., Nelson, NZ, 1949
  • Sold to Coastal Services (Motueka) Ltd., Nelson, NZ, 1962
  • Damaged by fire, laid up and offered for sale, 1965
  • Sold for use as a mother ship for crayfishing in the Seychelle Islands, February 1967
  • Departed from Lyttelton, NZ for the Seychelles after completing refit, 16 May 1967
  • Sold to Taupata Fishing Corp. Port Moresby, PNG, 1971
  • Listed in Lloyd's Supplement as operating as a pleasure craft, June 1980
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 268 gross tons, 143 net tons
    Length 117' 6"
    Beam 26' 2"
    Draft 6' 8"
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion
    twin 8-cylinder Fairbanks Morse Diesel engines
    two propellers, 140shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Taupata (YAG-26)
    Taupata
    14202602    		 46k USS Taupata (YAG-26) moored pierside at Auckland, New Zealand, in May 1943. USS Taupata was taken in tow by USS Coucal (ASR-8) at Havannah Harbor, Efate Island on 12 May 1943 and joined up with USS Awahou (YAG-24) under tow of USS Bobolink (AT-131). Together they were convoyed to Auckland, escorted by USS Talbot (APD-7) and USS Taganak (AG-45). R. Smokey Bassett, MSgt, USAF (ret)
    Taupata
    14202603    		 78k USS Taupata (YAG-26) crew on her upper deck; in the sweater is BOSN William H. Yeanns, Executive Officer, at right-last row in t-shirt; SC2c William W. “Bill” Bassett, just left of mast behind Yeanns - head with USN cap; BM2c Michael R."Boats" Goddard, far left with arms folded; S1/c "P.J." Paul J. Woods, next to him on his left, S1/c Frank M. Douglas. Dates: March to May 1943, location may be New Zealand. R. Smokey Bassett, MSgt, USAF (ret)
    Taupata
    14202604    		 65k USS Taupata (YAG-26)'s Executive Officer, BOSN William H. Yeanns R. Smokey Bassett, MSgt, USAF (ret)
    Taupata
    14202606    		 274k USS Taupata (YAG-26) crew members, P.J., BM2c Michael R. "Boats" Goddard, and S1/c Frank M. Douglas. R. Smokey Bassett, MSgt, USAF (ret)
    Taupata
    14202605    		 73k USS Taupata (YAG-26) crew member BM2c Michael R. "Boats" Goddard. R. Smokey Bassett, MSgt, USAF (ret)
    Taupata
    14202607    		 305k USS Taupata (YAG-26) Commanding Officer, LT(jg) Paul E. Dossey's wedding, at the tea kisok in the Auckland Domain, Auckland, NZ, 20 October 1943. unknown location, William W.Bassett, Washborn next to him, Vince Little (civilian), Michael R. Goddard and Ernest B. Christson. R. Smokey Bassett, MSgt, USAF (ret)
    Commercial Service
    Taupata
    14202601    		 62k Taupata underway at Kaiapoi, New Zealand, sometime between mid-March 1961 and May 1962. Photo courtesy of D. Ball with permission from David Shepherd webmaster New Zealand Coastal Shipping
    Taupata
    14202608    		 105k Taupata moored, date and location unknown.
    Photo from John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland via Wikimedia Commons    		 Dave Wright
    USS Taupata (YAG-26)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Craft Index Back To The Miscellaneous Auxiliary Service Craft (YAG) Photo Index
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    This page was by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 27 February 2021