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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS YDG-4
ex
 YP-528 (1942 - 1943)

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
YDG-4 Class District Degaussing Vessel (Self-propelled):
  • Built by Stone & Van Bergen, San Francisco, CA 1
  • Launched, September 1901
  • Completed for J.R. Hanify Co., San Francisco, CA, as the steam schooner SS Santa Monica (ON 117115), January 1902
  • Santa Monica spent her merchant career carrying lumber and passengers along the Pacific Northwest coast
  • Sold to Hobbs, Wall & Co., San Francisco, CA, 1936
  • Laid up out of service, late 1938
  • Purchased by the US Navy, 17 August 1942
  • Initially assigned the designation of Yard Patrol Vessel YP-528
  • Converted to a District Degaussing Vessel and redesignated YDG-4
  • Converted for naval service by United Engineering, Alameda, CA, 15 October 1942 - 07 March 1943
  • Commissioned USS YDG-4 at Alameda, CA, 08 March 1943
  • Sailed fron San Francisco to San Diego, 04-07 April 1943
  • Sailed from San Diego to San Francisco, 21-24 April 1943
  • Sailed from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor, 02-17 May 1943
  • Sailed from Pearl Harbor to Tutuila in tow of LST-460, 03-17 June 1943
  • Sailed from Tutuila to Efate in tow of LST-460, 21-25 July 1943
  • YDG-4 spent most of her brief career at Efate
  • Struck a reef and broke up 9 miles SE of Bulari Passage, New Caledonia, 01 October 1943
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 11 October 1943
    1. Sources stating the builder as W.F. Stone & Son are inaccurate, as the company was not renamed as such until 1911.
    Specifications:
    Displacement 318 tons(lt) 497 tons(fl)
    Length 166'
    Beam 34'
    Draft 12'
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament
    one 6-pdr (changed to a single 40mm in 1943)
    four single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion two cylinder compound (14" 32" x 24") engine, 400hp, single shaft
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    YDG-4 174k Forward plan view of USS YDG-4 in San Francisco, 29 March 1943. Note her civilian name Santa Monica still visible on bow.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2109-3-43, 3/29/43.    		 Darryl Baker
    YDG-4 153k Aft plan view of USS YDG-4 in San Francisco, 29 March 1943.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2108-3-43, 3/29/43.    		 Mike Green
    YDG-4 105k Port quarter view of USS YDG-4 underway in San Francisco Bay, 29 March 1943. She was underway in the bay from 1440 to 1700 to swing the ship for compass compensation, experiencing engine and steering problems along the way.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-46395 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    YDG-4 87k Stern view of USS YDG-4 underway off San Francisco, 29 March 1943. Note, San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge in the background.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2112-3-43, 3/29/43.    		 Darryl Baker
    YDG-4 106k Broadside view of USS YDG-4 underway off San Francisco, 29 March 1943. Note, San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge in the background.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo # 2114-3-43, 3/29/43.    		 Darryl Baker
    Commanding Officers
    01LT Franklyn Emmett Burke, Jr. D-VS, USNR(08 March 1943 - 01 October 1943)
    There is no DANFS history available for USS YDG-4 at Navsource
    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 (Yard and District Craft) Index Back To The District Degaussing Vessel (YDG) 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 24 March 2017