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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

YP-197


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Charlie - Foxtrot
 NYCF
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
District Patrol Craft
  • Built by Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Co., Winslow, WA
  • Launched, 07 November 1934
  • Completed as research vessel Brown Bear for the Alaska Game Survey and U.S. Bureau of Biological Survey, 1934
  • Transferred to newly formed Fish & Wildlife Service, 1941
  • Transferred to US Navy, 05 January 1942
  • Manned by US Coast Guard personnel, 05 January 1942 - 05 November 1945
  • Placed in service as YP-197, early 1942
  • Placed out of service, 27 November 1945
  • Struck from the Naval Register, date unknown
  • Returned to Fish & WIldlife Service, 28 March 1946
  • Later operated with NOAA, retired 1972
  • Operating as dive/excursion boat Baja Explorador in Baja California, early 1990s
  • Sold to American owners and documented as Brown Bear (ON 980667), 1992
  • Sank from neglect in San Diego harbor, August 1994
  • Raised and scuttled at sea, late 1997 - early 1998
    Specifications:
    Displacement 300 gross tons
    Length 114'
    Beam 27'
    Draft 13'
    Speed 8.5 knots
    Complement unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion
    two Washington diesels
    two shafts, 400hp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    YP-197 236k YP-197 moored at Dutch Harbor, AK, circa 20 March 1942.
    Photo taken by sailor aboard submarine S-32    		 Ric Hedman, pigboats.com
    There is no DANFS history record available for YP-197 at NavSource
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    Alaska Fisheries Science Center Historical Corner - Brown Bear
    Back To the Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Yard and District Craft Photo Index Back To The Patrol Craft (YP) 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 09 September 2016