Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS YAG-15
ex
 USS Mindoro (YAG-15) (1943 - 1945)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Zulu - Alpha - Sierra
 NZAS
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
Self-propelled Steel-hulled Miscellaneous Auxiliary Service Craft:
  • Built by Krupp Germania Werft, Kiel, Germany (YN 373)
  • Completed as steel-hulled three-masted barkentine schooner Kallisto for Anschutz & Co., Kiel, August 1921
  • Sold to Nederlandsche Technische Handel Mij "Giro", The Hague, Netherlands, 1923
  • Used to test experimental gyroscope equipment
  • Sold as yacht to William W. Near, Toronto, Ontario (homeported London, England) (British ON 148596), May 1925
  • Sold to famous Western novelist Zane Grey for $40,000, renamed Fisherman II, summer 1930
  • Received a $300,000 refit at Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Corp. that nearly bankrupted Grey, September 1930 - January 1931
  • Departed on eighteen-month South Seas cruise, March 1931
  • Trip aborted in Tahiti, June 1931; vessel was too bad a roller, a problem the Navy would experience as well
  • Laid up at Los Angeles Shipyards, 1932-1935
  • Sold to William R. Dobbs, San Pedro, CA, converted to a cargo vessel (ON 234179), May 1935
  • Refitted by Park & Kibele, Los Angeles, CA, as refigerated tuna clipper, summer 1935
  • Could not fish as foreign-built, so instead used to carry tomatoes from Baja California, 1935-1936
  • Refitted again as fishing vessel at Craig Shipbuilding, Long Beach, CA, May - July 1936
  • Libeled by US Government for engagng in coastwise trade and violating her certificate of registry, February 1940
  • Laid up at Kerckhoff-Cuzner Lumber Co. wharf, San Pedro, CA, 1940-1941
  • Government lost suits and vessel sold at auction to creditors, 21 August 1941
  • Registered to C.H. Martindale, Los Angeles, CA, 1942
  • Purchased by the Navy for $98,600 from the Kerckhoff-Cuzner Mill & Lumber Co., San Pedro, CA, 12 August 1942
  • Converted for naval service at a cost of $72,168 by Craig Shipbuilding Co., Long Beach, CA
  • Renamed Mindoro, 22 August 1942
  • Commissioned USS Mindoro (YAG-15) at Long Beach, CA, 06 January 1943
  • During World War II USS Mindoro served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • Name cancelled, 01 March 1945
  • Decommissioned, 04 December 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 19 December 1945
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 22 October 1946
  • Returned to owner C.H. Martindale as Fisherman II
  • Sold to Juan Perlo, Los Angeles, CA, renamed Zesta, February 1947
  • Reflagged Panamanian, used as banana boat
  • Final disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 446 gross tons, 362 net tons
    Length 156' 2" waterline, 183' 4" overall
    Beam 28' 6"
    Draft 15' 11"
    Speed 10 knots
    Complement 25
    Armament
    one single 6-pdr. gun
    two single 20mm AA guns
    two depth charge projectors
    Propulsion
    two Washington 6-cylinder diesel engines
    twin propellers, 450bhp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    Commercial Service
    Mindoro
    14201507    		 699k Seen under British flag as Kallisto, circa 1927-1928.
    Photo from Edmonton Journal, 14 January 1928.    		 Dave Wright
    Mindoro
    14201502    		 265k As Fisherman II, circa 1931. Dave Wright
    Mindoro
    14201508    		 616k Fisherman II operating as a tuna clipper in Central Amrican waters, 1938.
    Photo from Los Angeles Times, 11 December 1938.    		 Dave Wright
    USS Mindoro (YAG-15)
    Mindoro
    14201503    		 115k Four views of USS Mindoro (YAG-15) underway off San Pedro, 08 January 1943, immediately after being placed into commission.
    US Navy photos via Arthur D. Baker III    		 Dave Wright, courtesy Shipscribe.com
    Mindoro
    14201504    		 102k
    Mindoro
    14201505    		 103k
    Mindoro
    14201506    		 126k
    Commanding Officers
    01LT William Kelsey Gillett D-V(S), USNR(06 January 1943 - October 1943)
    02LT(jg)/LT John Martin Digman D-V(G), USNR(January - September 1944)
    03LT(jg)/LT Arthur G Phillips D-V(G), USNR(December 1944)
    View the USS Mindoro (YAG-15)
    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
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 27 February 2021