Skip to main content
Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Tags
Related Content
Topic
Document Type
  • Ship History
Wars & Conflicts
File Formats
Location of Archival Materials
Tourist
(PYc-32: dp. 185; 1. 150'0"; b. 26'1"; dr. 10'2"; cpl. 32)

Tourist, a steel-hulled steam yacht built as Calumet in 1903 by George Lawley & Son at South Boston, Mass., and later renamed Kehtoh, was acquired by the Navy on 23 March 1942 from Edward Baletti of Weehawken, N.J. Retaining her civilian name, Tourist was classified a patrol craft and designated PYc-32. Assigned to the 3d Naval District for patrol service, the vessel was found unsuitable for this duty and was returned to her owner on 18 May 1942.

However, on 7 August 1942, the Navy reacquired the ship, classified her as a miscellaneous district auxiliary and designated her as YAG-14. Conversion work began at the Frank McWilliams shipyard, Staten Island, N.Y., and progressed until she was 98 percent complete, when the remainder of the work was undertaken at the Bethlehem Steel Co. yard in Brooklyn, N.Y.

YAG-14 was placed in service by the Commandant, 3d Naval District, on 12 December 1942. On 3 January

1943, she got underway for Miami, via the inland waterway system.

Attached to Service Squadron 9, she was readied at Charleston, S.C., for service with the Fleet Sound School, Key West, Fla. She arrived there on 2 April 1943 and was placed in commission the following day. For the remainder of 1943 and into 1944, the ship served the Fleet Sound School as a training vessel for sonar operators. On 11 August 1944, YAG-14 was decommissioned. Struck from the Navy list on 22 August 1944, she was transferred to the War Shipping Ad ministration, Maritime Commission, and sold on 20 February 1945.

Published: Wed Sep 30 14:52:09 EDT 2015