Bailer (YO-54)
1942-1946
A tool used to remove cuttings and other material from oil wells.
(YO-54: displacement 2,075 (full load); length 213'6"; beam 37'; draft 14'6"; speed 10.5 knots; complement 18; armament 1 .50 caliber machine gun)
Early in the autumn of 1941, as the entry of the United States into World War II grew more probable, A. H. Dumont, a fuel oil barge constructed in 1940 at Camden, N.J., by the John H. Mathis Co., was slated for acquisition by the Federal Government; renamed Bailer and designated YO-54 on 2 October 1941; formally purchased by the Navy from Ira S. Bushey & Sons on 24 November 1941; converted to naval service by the Sullivan Dry Dock & Repair Corp., Brooklyn, N.Y,., and the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn; and placed in commission on 18 February 1942; Lt.(j.g.) James F. Ardagh, USNR, in command.
Following outfitting, tests, and trials during the latter part of February, Bailer put to sea on the 26th and, after stops at Newport, R.I., and Boston, Mass., arrived in Casco Bay, Maine, on 12 March. From that time until early in the summer of 1945, the fuel oil barge operated in Casco Bay under the auspices of the Commandant, First Naval District, refueling ships of the Atlantic Fleet. Shortly after the surrender of Germany ended hostilities in Europe, she returned to New York in June 1945 and spent the period 10 July to 9 August undergoing repairs at the shipyard of her former owner. On 9 August, she received orders to proceed to Norfolk, Va., where she operated until the spring of 1946. On 21 April 1946, Bailer was ordered to Boston for inactivation.
The fuel oil barge arrived at Boston on 30 April and was decommissioned there on 23 May 1946. Her name was stricken from the Navy List on 19 June 1946, and she was transferred to the Maritime Commission on 23 December 1946 for disposal.
Maritime Administration records indicate the vessel returned to mercantile service and continued to be thus employed until 1986, when she was taken out of service. Ultimately, she was employed as a "wharf at sea" as f March 1989, then sunk as a breakwater.
Raymond A. Mann
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
3 November 2021
