USS Black Douglas (PYc-45)

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USS Black Douglas (IX-55/PYc-45) was a steel-hulled auxiliary schooner which saw service as a United States Navy patrol vessel during World War II.

Black Douglas was built in 1930 at Bath, Maine, by the Bath Iron Works. On 2 January 1942, the month after the United States entered World War II, the schooner was acquired by the Navy from the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service. The vessel was designated IX-55 and converted for naval service at Winslow, Wash., by the Winslow Marine Railway & Shipbuilding Co. Black Douglas was placed in service in the 13th Naval District on 18 April 1942, Lt. Robert W. Copeland in command.

For the following 30 months, Black Douglas patrolled the waters of the 13th Naval District. On 8 April 1943, she was reclassified as a coastal patrol yacht and redesignated 'PYc-45. Eleven days later on 19 April 1943, the yacht was placed in full commission. Her patrol service continued until late in the summer of 1944.

Black Douglas was placed out of commission at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 20 September 1944. She was returned to the Fish and Wildlife Service on 4 October 1944, and her name was struck from the Navy list on 14 October 1944.

(IX-55: dp. 371; l. 133'5"; b. 32'; dr. 12'; s. 9.5 k.; a. 1 4", 4 .50-cal. mg.)

This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.