YSD-23

USS YSD-23: "Off the Boston Navy Yard, on 5 May 1941."

Naval History and Heritage Command, National Archives. 19-N-24220.

Type: Utilitarian Service Craft, Seaplane Wrecking Derrick
Laid down: November 12,1940
Launched: February 15, 1941
First Commissioned: May 8, 1941
Fate: Sold to Schultz Contracting Corp., Miami, FL, as freight boat Mary King, 1961

In the 1940s, workers at the Charlestown Navy Yard constructed a number of utilitarian service craft, which is a service vessel that is not designated as a ship or boat. One such vessel is YSD-23, a seaplane wrecking derrick. Vessels, such as YSD-23, used at Naval air stations to recover seaplanes from the water. They are self-propelled large floating cranes that can lift heavy objects, including small boats and engines. Seaplane wrecking derricks are fondly known as "Mary Annes" for their resemblance of a steam shovel in the 1930s children story, Mike Mulligan And His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton.

Contributed by: McKinzie Schultz, Student Conservation Association Historic Preservation Corps Member

Sources

"NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive." YSD, 2020. https://www.navsource.org/archives/14/5823.htm.

Priolo, Gary P. Navsource Auxiliary Ship Photo Archive, 2020. https://www.navsource.org/archives/14/58idx.htm.