If it’s the USS Coates, DE – 685, she was built in 43 and decommissioned in 1970.It is looking pretty tired but not beyond restoration.
What is the story of the USN ship 685 ..tied up just 100 yards from the "On Watch" memorial in Solomons?
Future target ship? Reef preparation? CIA ops boat for South America? Sale to the Sudanese navy?
A reliable source (wikipedia?????) says DE 685 was sunk as a target ship in 1971...so that slims the odds.If it’s the USS Coates, DE – 685, she was built in 43 and decommissioned in 1970.
If it’s YP – 685 it’s a patrol craft for training purposes
And I just pulled the first two hits I got for registry numberA reliable source (wikipedia?????) says DE 685 was sunk as a target ship in 1971...so that slims the odds.
YP 685...may be the real identity!
I look at this an immediately think of McHale's Navy. Not that it resembles a PT boat or anything.
Google Hank Ketcham's book, "Torpedo Junction". All about the sub wars off the Atlantic coast in early 1942. My grandfather and his vessel are the focal point for the story. He later commanded a DE on Atlantic convoy anti-sub duty.It would be amazing to back-design it just a little to look like 1940 DE...and do "U-Boat" patrol tours off the Carolina coast for paying guests.
Just read a similar work regarding the patrols & losses in '42. Raeder's only chance to bring the war to our shores. I think there are three U-boats that never made it back as we stiffened up the patrols. There is a British cemetery in Ocracoke,--the tragic end for a crew.Google Hank Ketcham's book, "Torpedo Junction". All about the sub wars off the Atlantic coast in early 1942. My grandfather and his vessel are the focal point for the story. He later commanded a DE on Atlantic convoy anti-sub duty.
I've got this bookHank Ketcham's book, "Torpedo Junction".
That crew of 14 seems like a lot, does this include every possible crew member including the chief cook in the galley? What would be the minimum required personnel to actually pilot that ship around safely?For your consideration ...
It is a yard patrol boat that was used in Annapolis by the US Naval Academy for training. After it reached its end of service life, it was auctioned off. I think she was built in 1986. The guy that bought it paid about $5500 for it about 6-9 years ago. It has one engine, a simple tractor trailer type diesel engine, and holds about 8000 gallons of fuel, when topped off, with a top speed of about 14 knots and a cruise of 8 knots, and had a crew of 14, (if I remember correctly). The fella had it towed from Annapolis to Calvert Marina where he has been trying to bring her back to life. She is a wooden hulled ship with copper sheathing, anti-fouling/anti-barnacle, slightly above her water line, and below. All that navy gray paint above deck was done by the owner.
That crew of 14 seems like a lot, does this include every possible crew member including the chief cook in the galley? What would be the minimum required personnel to actually pilot that ship around safely?
With a decent wind my sailboat would 8 knots.8 knots? Why bother?