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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Neswage (YNT-17)
ex
 Neswage (YN-49) (1940)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Mike - Delta
 NUMD
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Defense Service Medal - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
District Craft Net Tender Tug:
  • Built by Anderson & Christofani, San Francisco, CA
  • Completed for Charles L. Crary (San Francisco Towing), San Francisco, CA, as tug Ruth Freese (ON 238440), 1939
  • Purchased by the Navy for $45,000, 28 October 1940
  • Original asigned name Shellbard cancelled, 11 December 1940
  • New name Newswage assigned, 23 December 1940
  • Placed in service as Yard Net Tenderas Neswage (YN-49), 27 December 1940
  • Assigned to Twelfth Naval District, 1941-1946
  • Reclassified Yard Net Tender Tug (YNT-17), 01 May 1942
  • Placed out of service, 17 September 1946
  • Struck from the Navy Register 30 December 1946
  • Delivered to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 16 April 1947
  • Registered to Crary as Ruth Freese, 1947
  • Registered to Tugs, Inc., San Francisco, CA, 1960
  • Registered to William Stanley Edmonds, San Francisco, CA, 1968
  • Final disposition, fate unknown (out of documentation 1980s)
    Specifications:
    Displacement 43 gross tons, 20 net tons
    Length 59' 7" waterline, 64' 9" overall
    Beam 15' 7"
    Draft 7' 9""
    Speed 10 knots
    Complement unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion
    one Enterprise diesel engine
    single propeller, 300shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Neswage
    142204901    		 95k Civilian tug Ruth Freese underway probably in San Francisco Bay, circa, 1939, during builders trials.
    US National Archives, RG-19-LCM, Photo No. None a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Mike Green
    Neswage (YN-49 / YNT-17)
    DANFS history entry located at the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    US Navy Harbor Tug Boats
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Yard & District Craft Type Index Back To The Yard Net Tender (YN) Photo Index Back To The Yard Net Tender, Tug (YNT) Photo Index
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    This page was created by David W. Almond and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 15 January 2026