USS ''Captain Dud'' (ID-3507), later USS ''YD-43'', was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

floating derrick in service from 1918 to 1956. ''Captain Dud'' was built in 1914 as the commercial wooden, pontoon-

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

A-frame floating derrick ''Captain Dud S507'' by S. Flory at Bangor, Pennsylvania; her design included a

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

-sheathed house. In 1918 the U.S. Navy acquired her from her owner, the Thames Towboat Company of

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, for use during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, assigned her the naval registry identification number 3507, and placed her in service as USS ''Captain Dud'' (ID-3507). ''Captain Dud'' was assigned to the

5th 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 ...

. When the U.S. Navy adopted its modern hull number system on 17 July 1920, she was classified as a

floating crane Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched * ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes * Floating (psychological phe ...

(YD), her name was dropped, and she became USS ''YD-43''. ''YD-43'' was rebuilt in 1932 and remained in service until 1956.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Captain Dud (ID-3507) Auxiliary ships of the United States Navy World War I auxiliary ships of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States 1914 ships Crane vessels Floating cranes Individual cranes (machines)