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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

YSD-1
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Seaplane Wrecking Derrick No. 1 (1917 - 1920)
Floating Derrick No. 28 (1916 - 1917)


Seaplane Wrecking Derrick:
  • Built by Charleston Navy Yard, Charleston, SC
  • Completed as the steel-hulled catamaran Floating Derrick No. 28, 1916
  • Redesignated Seaplane Wrecking Derrick No. 1, circa 1917
  • Initially assigned to 8th Naval District, at NAS Pensacola, FL, 1916 - 1923
  • Redesignated Seaplane Wrecking Derrick YSD-1, 17 July 1920
  • Later assigned to 5th Naval District, at Norfolk, 1923 - 1933
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Transferred to War Department, 16 May 1933
  • FInal disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 90 tons
    Length 60'
    Beam 40'
    Draft unknown
    Speed 6 knots
    Lifting Capacity 13,000 pounds
    Propulsion
    gasoline-fueled electric motor, 100hp
    two propellers

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    For Full Size Image
    Size Image Description Source
    YSD-1
    YSD-1
    14580101
    269k Preliminary design plan for a coastal aircraft recovery craft, from the 1911-1925 "Spring Styles Book." The future YSD-1 was built to this plan in 1916.
    Naval History & Heritage Command photo S-584-075, via shipscribe.com
    Dave Wright
    YSD-1
    14580102
    877k Seaplane Wrecking Derrick No. 1 moored in the Wet Basin, NAS Pensacola, 1918. Note the World War I camouflage on the buildings, the floating blimp hangar, and Coal Barge No. 214; used for catapult experiments, it was the first floating vessel to successfully catapult an aircraft into flight.
    University of West Florida photo, for educational use only.
    David Upton
    YSD-1
    14580103
    253k YSD-1. date and location unknown.
    Private collection of David Upton.
    David Upton
    Allegheny
    096401905
    104k Divers working from YSD-1 attempt to raise USS Allegheny (AT-19) at NAS Pensacola, July 1922. The tug had been holed and sunk after being struck by the propeller of the collier USS Orion (AC-11).
    US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, photo 1989.119.001.030
    Mike Green

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    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
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    Last Updated 26 November 2021