YAG training vessel

YAG 300 (Yard Auxiliary, General) vessels were a series of ten wooden boats built between 1954 and 1955 that throughout their service acted as yard ferries (Blue Boats), training platforms and test beds for route survey equipment with the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).[1]

CFAV Caribou (YAG 314)
Class overview
Builders:
  • Withey’s Shipyard
  • Mercer’s Shipyard
Operators:  Royal Canadian Navy
Succeeded by: Orca-class patrol vessel
Built: 1954–1955
In service: 1954-2007
Completed: 10
General characteristics
Type: Training vessel
Displacement: 70 tonnes (69 long tons)
Length: 75 ft 3 in (22.94 m)
Installed power: Yanmar diesel generator
Propulsion: 2 × Detroit Diesel 6-71 series engines, 320 hp (239 kW)
Speed: 10 knots
Boats & landing
craft carried:		 Zodiac launch
Complement: 12 - 14
Sensors and
processing systems:		 Furuno 1831

Unofficially known as Canadian Forces Auxiliary Vessels (CFAV), the 75-foot boats primarily served as at-sea training platforms for junior naval officers, boatswains, reserve personnel and Sea Cadets at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt until they were taken out of service in 2007. According to the Department of National Defence, "in 2000, a total of 1830 personnel were deployed on the YAGs for a total of 585 days and steamed over 25,000 nautical miles (46,000 km) in support of training."[2]

Design and layout

The boats were 75′ long overall, 18′6″ wide, had a draft of 4′6″, measured 70 tonnes, and were all powered by twin 6-71 Detroit Diesel engines. The boats were arranged in typical naval fashion with officers housed forward with the galley and their own head, an engine room amidships, and cadet room aft with 12-14 bunks in double tiers. The heads are equipped with a pump-action lever, that could be used to pump sewage into the black water tanks held aboard or into the ocean water. Above decks was the wheelhouse mounted on the forward cabin's coaming; abaft that, the exposed breezeway; and, mounted on the after cabin's coaming, a Zodiac launch as well as a food locker and barbecue. Above the wheelhouse was an open bridge, fitted with a chart table and a gyrocompass repeater. A second gyro repeater was fitted on the quarterdeck. Each YAG was equipped with a Furuno 1831 navigation radar, with the display located in the wheelhouse.

Retirement

Before being put on the auction block, the 57-year old vessels were stripped of all military equipment and then environmentally assessed for sale.[3] Six YAGs and one yard diving tender were auctioned off to buyers on Vancouver Island and Vancouver. Selling prices varied for each vessel depending on the intensity of the bidding.

The Canadian Government sold all six vessels for $26,537.80 CAD, with an average sale price of $4,422.96 CAD. The most expensive ship sold (YAG 320 Lynx) sold for more than $11,000.[4] The YAG 300 series were replaced by the Orca-class tenders.

List of YAG vessels (1954-2007)
List of YAG vessels (1954-2007)[5]
Name Pennant Number Builder Launched Out of Service Dispositions
CFAV Grizzly (YAG 306)
 Grizzly 306 Withey’s Shipyard, Gabriola Island, BC 1954 2008 YFM 306

YFP 306

YAG 306

Sold 8 June 2011 for C$3,675.00

Name reused for Orca-class PCT 60[6]

CFAV Cougar (YAG 308)
 Cougar 308 Withey’s Shipyard, Gabriola Island, BC 1954 2008 YFM 308

YFP 308

YAG 308

Sold 2 June 2011 for C$4,000.00

Name reused for Orca-class PCT 61

CFAV YTP 4 (YTP 4) YTP 4 310 Star Shipyard (Mercer's) Ltd., New Westminster, BC 1954 1991 YFM 310

YFP 310

YMR 4

YTP 4

Retired from RCN 1991[7]

CFAV Otter (YAG 312) Otter 312 Star Shipyard (Mercer's) Ltd., New Westminster, BC 1955 2007 YFM 312

YFP 312

YAG 312

Sold 15 June 2011 for C$1,651.00

CFAV Caribou (YAG 314)
 Caribou 314 Withey’s Shipyard, Gabriola Island, BC 1955 2007 YFP 314

M.975 Nimpkish II (RCAF)

YAG 314

Sold for C$1,153.00[8]

Name reused for Orca-class PCT 57

CFAV Blue Boat 316 (YFB 316) Blue Boat 316 316 Star Shipyard (Mercer's) Ltd., New Westminster, BC 1955 2013 YFM 316,

YFP 316

YFB 316

Retired from RCN 2013

Sold 2014 (ON 838674)[9]

CFAV Vixen (YFB 317) Vixen 317 Withey’s Shipyard, Gabriola Island, BC 1955 2011 YFM 317

YFP 317

YFB 317

Sold 2011 as Fellowship (US ON 1091262)[10]

CFAV Blue Boat 318 (YFB 318) Blue Boat 318 318 Star Shipyard (Mercer's) Ltd., New Westminster, BC 1955 2013 YFM 318

YFP 318

YFB 318

Retired from RCN 2013

Sold 2014.

CFAV Badger (YAG 319)
 Badger 319 Withey’s Shipyard, Gabriola Island, BC 1955 2008 YFM 319

YFP 319

YAG 319

Sold 2011 for C$4,680.00.[11] [12]

CFAV Lynx (YAG 320) Lynx 320 Withey’s Shipyard, Gabriola Island, BC 1955 2007 YFM 320

YFP 320

YAG 320

Retired from RCN 2007

Sold 2011 for C$11,378.00. [13]

  • HMCS Edmonton with YAG boats (2006)
  • CFAV "Badger" (YAG 319)
  • CFAV "Badger" (YAG 319)
  • CFAV "Caribou" (YAG 314)

References
  1. Moller, Richard, LCdr (2 September 2008). "The YAG Era Draws to an End" (PDF). The Link. 17: 5–6.
  2. Government of Canada, National Defence (2004-11-08). "Backgrounder | The YAG 300 Replacement Project". www.forces.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  3. Roberts, Tad. "Canadian Navy YAG's for sale". Low Tide Yacht Designer Tad Roberts' Web Log. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  4. Williamson, R (March 2012). "UNTD Training Vessels Sold" (PDF). The Newsletter of the UNTD Association of Canada. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  5. "Small Naval Craft Built in Canada Since WWII". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  6. "Grizzly". ShipSpotting.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  7. "Small Naval Craft Built in Canada Since WWII". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  8. "Yachts & Character Vessels". G.W KLEAMAN MARINE SERVICES LTD. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  9. "Small Naval Craft Built in Canada Since WWII". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  10. "Small Naval Craft Built in Canada Since WWII". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  11. "Restored Canadian Navy vessel offers unique experiences of Barkley Sound, Clayoquot Sound and Nootka". Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News. 2019-06-29. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  12. Williamson, R (March 2012). "UNTD Training Vessels Sold" (PDF). The Newsletter of the UNTD Association of Canada. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  13. "RNOOKNOO". ShipSpotting.com. Retrieved 10 July 2016.

YAG 308

YAG 312

YAG 314

YFP 316

YAG 319

YAG 320

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