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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USCGC White Sage (WLM-544)
ex
 USCGC White Sage (WAGL-544) (1947 - 1960)
YF-444 (1944 - 1946)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Papa - Charlie
 NAPC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal
YF-257 Class Self-propelled Covered Lighter:
  • Built by Erie Concrete & Steel Supply Co., Erie, PA
  • Ordered under contract NXs-156
  • Laid down, 29 March 1943
  • Launched, 19 June 1943
  • Placed in service as YF-444 at New York Navy Yard, 29 May 1944
  • Assigned to the 3rd Naval District as ammunition lighter at NAD Earle, NJ
  • Placed out of service and transferred to the US Coast Guard, 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Commissioned, as the Coastal Buoy Tender USCGC White Sage (WAGL-544), 09 August 1947
  • Redesignated WLM-544, mid-1960s
  • Decommissioned, 07 June 1996
  • Donated to the Canvasback Missions, Inc., 1999
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 600 tons
    Length 132' 10"
    Beam 30'
    Draft 8' 9" max.
    Speed 10.5 kts.
    Range 2,830 mile range at 7.5 kts. (1948)
    Armament none
    Complement USCG - 1 Warrant Officer, 20 Enlisted (1948)
    Propulsion
    As Built - diesel, twin screws
    1974 - Diesel electric; 2 x direct-reversible 06 Union Diesel engines, 600 BHP
    twin propellers
    3 rudders (as launched)
    2 x Caterpillar D-353-E Diesel engines
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed By
    USS YF-444
    YF-444 79k YF-444 at Erie Concrete & Steel Supply Co., Erie, PA., soon after launching on 19 June 1943.
    Photo from Bowling Green University, Historical Collection of the Great Lakes.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    White Sage (WAGL-544 / WLM-544)
    YF-444 137k Overhead view of USCGC White Sage (WAGL-544) underway on Vineyard Sound off Rhode Island, 9 August 1948. Visible in this photo is the original crane and hoisting mechanism. Also visible are two additional piles (spuds) that are dropped to the bottom and used to steady the vessel. Originally commissioned during WWII, as USS YF-444, the vessel was acquired by the Coast Guard in 1946.
    Photo from the collections of the US Library of Congress, HAER RI,1-BRIST.V,1—36    		 Mike Green
    YF-444 44k USCGC White Sage (WAGL-544) at the Coast Guard yard, Curtis Bay, Baltimore, MD. after installation of a new A-frame mast and boom hoisting system.
    US Coast Guard photo.    		 US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    YF-444 39k USCGC White Sage (WAGL-544) lifting the sunken 40-foot UTB CG-40375 from the bottom at Wood's Hole Oceanographic Center, MA, 1970. 44-foot MLB CG-44339 is alongside the tender.
    US Coast Guard photo 200731-G-G0000-1970    		 US Coast Guard Historian's Office
    YF-444 95k USCGC White Sage (WLM-544) under way off the U.S. Coast Guard 1st District Base at Bristol, RI, June 1969.
    Library of Congress, Photo No. HAER RI, 1-BRIST.V, 1—33    		 Mike Green
    YF-444 88k USCGC White Sage (WLM-544) moored, circa 1999, location unknown.
    Photo from the collections of the US Library of Congress, HAER RI,1-BRIST.V,1--3    		 Mike Green
    There is no DANFS history for YF-444 available at NavSource
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    U.S. Coast Guard Historian's Office - White Sage, 1947 WLM / WAGL-544; YF-444
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Craft Type Index Back To The Covered Lighter (Self-propelled) (YF) Photo Index
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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 18 September 2020