| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS YP-422 |
| Builder: | American Ship Building Company, Cleveland, Ohio |
| Launched: | 1941 |
| Acquired: | 4 June 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 28 July 1942 |
| Fate: | Lost by grounding off New Caledonia, 23 April 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Patrol boat |
| Length: | 133 ft 3 in (40.61 m) |
| Beam: | 26 ft 1 in (7.95 m) |
| Draft: | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × 650 hp (485 kW) Cooper Bessemer 6-cylinder engine, single shaft |
| Armament: | • 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun • 2 × .30 cal. machine guns |
USS YP-422 was a United States Navy yard patrol (YP) boat that served the United States Navy in World War II from 1942 to 1943. Built in 1941 as the fishing trawler Mist, it was acquired by the US Navy in June 1942 and was converted for naval use by George Lawley & Son of Neponset, Massachusetts. It was commissioned on July 28, 1942 and was put into service to patrol the waters around the Boston Navy Yard.[1] The vessel was lightly armed with a 3-inch gun and two .30 caliber machine guns.[2]
YP-422 was briefly commanded by L. Ron Hubbard, the controversial founder of Scientology, who was supervising the conversion in his capacity as a US Navy lieutenant. He was relieved of his command a few weeks after YP-422 underwent a 27-hour training exercise in August 1942. A despatch sent by the Commandant of the Boston Navy Yard described Hubbard as "not temperamentally fitted for independent command" and he was removed from command on October 1, 1942.[3]
In 1943, YP-422 was dispatched to the Pacific theater of operations to support the Solomon Islands campaign. However, she was lost on April 23, 1943, after foundering on Tumbo Reef, three miles south-east of the entrance to North Bulari Passage, New Caledonia.[4]
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