Wapello YN-56

Wapello

(YN-56: 1. 102'2"; b. 24'0"; dr. 9'6")

R. K. Evans was completed in April 1941 at Port Arthur, Tex., by the Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, for the General Motors Corp., of Cleveland, Ohio. Acquired by the Navy for service as a net tender, renamed Wapello, and designated YN-66, the ship was placed in service on 9 June 1941. Six days later, the ship arrived at the naval station at Key West, Fla., for conversion and fitting-out.

On 26 June, Wapello set sail for Cuba, in company with Umpqua (AT-25), and arrived at Guantanamo Bay three days later. Escorted by Vega (AK-17) from Guantanamo Bay to San Diego and by Ramapo (AO-12) from the west coast to the Hawaiian Islands, Wapello arrived at Pearl Harbor on 27 August.

While attached to the 14th Naval District, the ship tended harbor nets through the Japanese attack on 7 December and the remainder of the crucial year, 1941 She remained at Pearl Harbor for the duration of hostilities, engaged in unglamorous but vital tasks. The ship was reclassified YNT-24 on 7 April 1942, With the end of the war in the Pacific, the need for the ship's services decreased rapidly, and Wapello was declared surplus. Placed out of service at Bremerton, Wash., on 23 October 1946 and struck from the Navy list on 21 November 1946, the ship was turned over to the War Shipping Administration for disposal on 3 May 1947.