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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

YP-197

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Charlie - Foxtrot
NYCF

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

District Patrol Craft

Built by Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Co., Winslow, WA

Launched, 07 November 1934

Completed as research vessel Brown Bear for the Alaska Game Survey and U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, 1934

Transferred to newly formed Fish & Wildlife Service, 1941

Transferred to US Navy, 05 January 1942

Manned by US Coast Guard personnel, 05 January 1942 - 05 November 1945

Placed in service as YP-197, early 1942

Placed out of service, 27 November 1945

Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown

Returned to Fish & WIldlife Service, 28 March 1946

Later operated with NOAA, retired 1972

Operating as dive/excursion boat Baja Explorador in Baja California, early 1990s

Sold to American owners and documented as Brown Bear (ON 980667), 1992

Sank from neglect in San Diego harbor, August 1994

Raised and scuttled at sea, late 1997 - early 1998

Specifications:
Displacement 300 gross tons
Length 114'
Beam 27'
Draft 13'
Speed 8.5 knots
Complement unknown
Armament unknown
Propulsion

two Washington diesels

two shafts, 400hp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
143119702	61k	Port quarter view of the U.S. Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (BCF) research vessel *Brown Bear, date unknown. Unattributed photo by Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries Service*	Robert Hurst
143119703	102k	U.S Bureau of Biological Survey research vessel *Brown Bear* in front of Taku Glacier in the Territory of Alaska, August 1935. Unattributed photo by Alaska Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries Service	Robert Hurst
143119701	236k	*YP-197* moored at Dutch Harbor, AK, circa 20 March 1942. Photo taken by sailor aboard submarine *S-32*	Ric Hedman, pigboats.com

There is no DANFS history record available for YP-197 at NavSource

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
Alaska Fisheries Science Center Historical Corner - Brown Bear

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This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright

Last Updated 15 December 2024