USS ''YP-399'' was a fishing vessel acquired by the U.S. Navy before completion during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to serve as a patrol boat.

History

She was completed in 1942 at the Tacoma shipyard of the Peterson Boat Building for the benefit of John Brescovich and named ''Big Dipper''. On 29 May 1942, she was acquired by the U.S. Navy. She was designated as a

Yard Patrol Craft Yard Patrol craft are used by the United States Navy for training and for research purposes. They are designated as YP in the hull classification symbol system. They were nicknamed "Yippy boats" after the "YP" classification symbol. World War I ...

(YP) and assigned to the

13th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

. Her commanding officer was Lieutenant Commandeer Vernon Johnson. She was one of the initial ships assembled by

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Ralph C. Parker for the Alaskan Sector,

Northwest Sea Frontier Sea Frontiers were several, now disestablished, commands of the United States Navy as areas of defense against enemy vessels, especially submarines, along the U.S. coasts. They existed from 1 July 1941 until in some cases the 1970s. Sea Frontiers ...

colloquially known as the "Alaskan Navy". On 8 May 1946, she was struck from the Naval List and transferred to the United States Maritime Administration who returned her to her original owner. She served as a commercial fishing vessel thereafter for a number of owners under the names ''Big Dipper'' (until 1951), FV ''Liberty Bell II'' (until 1967), and FV ''Nautilus''. She went out of registration in 1997.

References

1942 ships Auxiliary ships of the United States Navy Ships built in Tacoma, Washington Yard patrol boats of the United States Navy Ships of the Aleutian Islands campaign {{US-navy-stub