USS Sylph (PY-12)

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USS Sylph (PY-12) steaming down the Patomac River.jpg
USS Sylph (PY-12), steaming down the Potomac River. The Washington skyline can be seen in the background.
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
Name
  • Intrepid (1929–1940)
  • Sylph (1940–1946)
Namesake Sylph
Builder George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts
Completed1929
Acquired16 July 1940
Commissioned19 July 1940
Decommissioned19 December 1945
RenamedSylph, 19 July 1940
ReclassifiedPatrol Yacht, PY-12, 19 July 1940
Stricken8 January 1946
Identification
FateUnknown
General characteristics
Type
  • Yacht 1929–1940
  • Patrol Yacht 1940–1946
Displacement810 long tons (823  t)
Length205 ft 3 in (62.56 m)
Beam33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
Draft16 ft 10 in (5.13 m)
Installed power
Propulsion1 × screw
Sail plan Barquentine (removed 1940)
Speed10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement88
Armament

USS Sylph (PY-12), briefly YP-71, was a yacht in commission in the United States Navy as a patrol yacht from 1940 to 1946.

Contents

Construction, acquisition, and commissioning

Intrepid (YP-71), a yacht built in 1929 at Neponset, Massachusetts, by George Lawley & Son, was acquired by the Navy on 16 July 1940. She was renamed Sylph and redesignated PY-12 three days later. After conversion in New York City by the Sullivan Drydock and Repair Corporation, she was commissioned on 1 October 1940.

Service history

After commissioning, she remained at New York, assigned to the 3d Naval District to train reserve midshipmen. Soon after America's entry into World War II, Sylph was fitted with sound gear and depth charges and assigned to Tompkinsville, New York, to help patrol for German U-boats. On 10 February 1942, she was reassigned to New London, Connecticut, whence she continued to hunt for submarines. While at New London, Sylph also helped periodically to train sonarmen, a critical personnel need in the Battle of the Atlantic. Future Hollywood actor Ernest Borgnine served as a U.S. Navy gunner's mate aboard Sylph during its antisubmarine warfare patrols of the North Atlantic. [1] [2] [3]


In the fall of 1943, Sylph ceased to patrol for submarines. Assigned to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, she gave her full attention to training sonarmen and to the development of equipment and techniques for finding and sinking submarines. In October 1944, Sylph and her unit, the Surface Division of the Atlantic Fleet's Antisubmarine Development Detachment, shifted base to Port Everglades, Florida. She continued to train sonarmen there and assisted in the antisubmarine warfare research effort through the end of World War II.

In September 1945, Sylph was ordered to the Commandant, 6th Naval District, at Charleston, South Carolina. She arrived at Charleston on 8 November and was decommissioned on 19 December. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 8 January 1946, and her hulk was sold by the War Shipping Administration on 31 December 1946. [4]

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References

  1. ↑ "USS Sylph (PY-12)". www.navy.togetherweserved.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  2. ↑ "Famous Veterans: Ernest Borgnine". 27 July 2020.
  3. ↑ Ernest Borgnine on serving in the US Navy during WWII - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG, Youtube video of interview, labeled with date of 2 Nov 2010
  4. ↑ "Sylph". www.history.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 14 March 2004.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

Photo gallery of USS Sylph (PY-12) at NavSource Naval History

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