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Patrol Yacht Photo Archive

USS Southern Seas (PY 32)
ex-USAT Southern Seas



Call sign:
Nan - Baker - Xray - Tare


Southern Seas served both the U. S. Army and Navy


Sunk 9 October 1945
Patrol Yacht:

  • Built in 1920 as Lydonia by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Co., New York for Cyrus Curtiss of
  • Purchased by the Pan American Aviation Co. and renamed Southern Seas
  • Purchased by the Army in December 1941
  • Acquired by the Navy 23 December 1942 and commissioned USS Southern Seas (PY 32) the same day
  • Sunk 9 October 1945 during Typhoon Louise at Okinawa
  • Struck from the Navy list 24 October 1945.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 1,116 t.
  • Length 228'
  • Beam 31' 3"
  • Draft 14' 3"
  • Speed 11 kts.
  • Complement 47
  • Propulsion: Four Seabury water-tube boilers, two 500ihp triple expansion steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    MY Southern Seas
    Southern Seas 331k
    USS Southern Seas (PY 32)
    Southern Seas 32k
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR Albert Louis McMullen, USNR - Awarded the Bronze Star (1944)22 December 1942 - 25 January 1943
    02LT Leroy George Elwell, USNR25 January 1943 - 14 October 1943
    03LTJG Rupert Alexander Triplitt, USNR14 October 1943 - 15 June 1944
    04LTJG Charles Harmon Alexander, USN15 June 18944 - 31 March 1945
    05LT Thomas George Thompson, USNR31 March 1945 - 5 August 1945
    06LT Charlie F. McMichael, USNR - Died in Typhoon5 August 1945 - 9 October 1945
    07ENS William A. Howard, USNR9 October 1945 - 1 December 1945 (Senior Surviving Officer)
    Courtesy Joe Radigan and Wolfgang Hechler
    View the Southern Seas (PY 32)
    DANFS History entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command Website
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