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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Baranof (YAG-11)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Yankee - Kilo - Bravo NYKB

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal

Self-propelled Steel-hulled Miscellaneous Auxiliary Service Craft:

Built by Long Beach Shipbuilding Co., Long Beach, CA (YN 145)

Completed for Swayne & Hoyt's California and Mexico SS Line, San Francisco CA, as motor cargo vessel Casco (ON 220754), February 1921

Chartered for lumber trade between Eurkea and San Francisco, July 1922 - January 1923

Sold to Inter-Island Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., Honolulu, TH, November 1923

Renamed Kailua, March 1924

Sold to Harry W. Crosby, Seattle, WA, February 1933

Registered to Chignik Packing Co., Seattle, WA, 1937

Sold to Western Shipping Co, Seattle, WA, renamed Western Trader, 1941

Acquisition by Navy directed, 29 November 1940

Planned to be used as ferry to San Clemente Island, but project dropped, March 1941

Selected again for use as a cargo carrier between section bases in Alaska, January 1942

Acquired by the Navy and designated YAG-11, 14 March 1942

Named Baranof (YAG-11), 20 April 1942

Converted for Naval service at Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton WA

Commissioned USS Baranof (YAG-11), 22 May 1942

During World War II Baranof served in Alaskan waters, shuttling passengers and cargo between Alaskan bases and Seattle

Reassigned to the 12th Naval District at San Francisco, 16 January 1944

Decommissioned at Naval Station Treasure Island, San Francisco, CA, 02 March 1944

Used to train drydock personnel in docking and undocking procedures at Floating Dry Dock Training Center, Tiburon CA, 1944-1945

Name withdrawn, 01 March 1945

Placed out of service at Treasure Island, 05 November 1945

Struck from the Naval Register, 28 November 1945

Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Puget Sound

Transferred to WSA (War Shipping Administration) for disposal, 20 January 1947

Sold to Washington Fish and Oyster Co., Seattle, WA, as Western Trader, 1947

Final Disposition, dropped from the American Bureau of Shipping Register, 1968

Specifications:
Displacement 328 gross tons
Length 120' 1" waterline, 129' 0" overall
Beam 24' 1"
Draft 10' 6" (depth of hold)
Speed 10 knots
Complement 27
Armament

one single 3"/23 dual purpose gun mount

two .50-cal. machine guns

one .30-cal. machine guns

(later three 20mm AA guns)

two depth charge racks
Propulsion

two Fairbanks Morse 4-cylinder diesel engines

twin propellers, 200bhp

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By
Commercial Service
14201104	116k	*Western Trader* underway, possibly shown arriving at the Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, WA. for conversion to *USS Baranof* (YAG-11)*, February 1942. The Navy moved the foremast from the forecastle to just in front of the bridge. National Archives photo 19-N-30762*	Robert Hurst, courtesy Shipscribe.com
USS Baranof (YAG-11)
14201101	84k	*USS Baranof* (YAG-11)** underway during acceptance trials, circa 07 April 1942, after completing conversion at Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, WA. National Archives photos 19-N-30763, 19-N-30764 and 19-N-30765	Robert Hurst, courtesy Shipscribe.com
14201102	105k
14201103	98k
Postwar Commercial Service
14201105	121k	*Western Trader* moored at an unknown location postwar. Note the changed mast locations.	Dave Wright

Commanding Officers
01	LT George Jessen, D-M USNR	(August 1942)
01	LT(jg) Dudley Neal Perrine USNR	(June 1943 - March 1944)

USS Baranof (YAG-11)
DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command

Crew Contact And Reunion Information
U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log

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This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright

Last Updated 05 August 2025