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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Wapello (YNT-24)
ex
 Wapello (YN-56) (1941-1942)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Bravo - Romeo - Lima
 NBRL
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (Pearl Harbor) - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
  • Built by Gulfport Boiler & Welding Works, Port Arthur, TX (Yn 167)
  • Completed for General Motors Corp. as tug R.K. Evans, 10 May 1941
  • Purchased by Navy from GM, 09 June 1941
  • Placed in service same day
  • Converted for naval service by Naval Station, Key West, 15-23 June 1941
  • Arrived Pearl Harbor, 27 August 1941
  • Assigned to Fourteenth Naval District, 1941-1946
  • Wapello was present at Pearl Harbor, 07 December 1941
  • Reclassified Yard Net Tender Tug YNT-24, 01 May 1942
  • Placed out of service at Bremerton, WA, 23 October 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 21 November 1946
  • Turned over to the War Shipping Administration for disposal, 03 May 1947
  • Registered to Diesel Corp., Jacksonville, FL, renamed Anna Coppedge (ON 252393), 1947
  • Registered to Lago Oil & Transport Co. under Honduran flag, renamed Colorado Point, 1949
  • Registered to Creole Petroleum Corp. under Venezuelan flag, renamed Creole Firme, 1956
  • Registered to Universal Towing Co. under Panamanian flag, renamed Selma, 1966
  • Renamed Island No. 1, 1973
  • Final disposition, scrapped about 1985 1
  • Wapello earned one battle star for World War II service
    1. Many sources, including the previous Navsource entry for this vessel, mistakenly say this tug was sunk in the Panama Canal as Gorgona II. The tug actually sunk in the Canal appears to have been the former Kiasutha (YTB-463.
    Specifications:
    Displacement
    Length 102' 2"
    Beam 24' 0"
    Draft 9' 6"
    Speed
    Complement
    Armament
    Propulsion
    one General Motors diesel engine
    single propeller, 650shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Source
    Wapello (YN-56) / (YNT-24)
    Wapello
    142205601    		 69k Wapello (YN-56) on builders dock, stern view, at Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur, TX, date unknown. Larry R Wendell, Jr.
    Wapello
    142205602    		 69k Wapello (YN-56) on the builders dock, at Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur, TX, port bow view, date unknown. Larry R Wendell, Jr.
    Wapello
    142205606    		 88k Wapello (YN-56) underway, probably near Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur, TX, around the time of her delivery in June 1941.
    Cleveland Diesel (G.M.) brochure, loose pages held by the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command (CUP, L-file), Photo No. None    		 Mike Green
    Wapello
    142205603    		 58k Wapello (YN-56) on builders dock, Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur, TX, starboard bow view, date unknown. Larry R Wendell, Jr.
    Wapello
    142205604    		 53k Wapello (YN-56) rough log for 07 December 1941, Pearl Harbor. Larry R Wendell, Jr.
    Commercial Service
    Wapello
    142205607    		 85k Colorado Point off the Lago Refinery, Aruba, 1950s. Photo copyright Homer Waits. David Wright
    Wapello (YN-56 / YNT-24)
    DANFS history entry located at the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    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 Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
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    Last Updated 15 January 2026