Roustabout YO-53

Roustabout

A deckhand or waterfront worker; a jack-of-all-trades.

(YO-53: t. 217; 1. 221'; b 36'; dr. 17'; s. unk. (600 hp.);
cpl. unk.; a. 1 3", 2 mg.)

Roustabout was built durin~ the period from 1923 to 1925 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding of ., San Francisco, Calif., as the steel, self-propelled fuel oil barge Hawaiian Standard; acquired 31 May 1941 for U.S. Navy service from her owner, Standard Oil Co. of Calif., and commissioned 10 June 1941 Lt. Comdr. Lawrenee A. Parke, USNR, in command.

Fitted out for naval service at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Roustabout was assigned for duty to the 13th Naval District. Throughout World War II, she steamed between Puget Sound ports and U.S. bases in Alaskan waters, transporting fuel oil, ammunition, food, stores, mail, and myriad other items. Roustabout frequently ealled at Sitka and Ketehikan, Alaska, and also visited Port Townsend, Alliford Bay, and Clayto Passage, British Columbia.

Returning to Puget Sound at war's end, Roustabout decommissioned at Bremerton, Wash., 2 February 1946. Struck from the Navy list 12 March1946, she waa transferred to the Maritime Commission 29 June 1946 at Olympia, Wash.