The fishing trawler was acquired by the Navy as part of the Auxiliary Vessels Act on 1 January 1942. Reporting to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine, the trawler began conversion to war service as a minesweeper on 8 January. With the work complete on 28 February, she was named Eagle, given the hull classification symbol AM-132, and placed in commission on 5 March 1942, with Lieutenant Commander Leroy E. Rogers, USNR, in command.
Q-shipedit
Along with Asterion(AK-100) and Atik(AK-101), Eagle was selected early to participate in a secret "Q-ship" program. The intention was to disguise the ship as a defenseless civilian vessel and, after luring an enemy submarine into close quarters on the surface, open fire with hidden guns and sink the unsuspecting U-boat. For this reason, Eagle remained at Portsmouth, where she underwent further conversion into a Q-ship and received weapons and sonar gear. During this second conversion, the minesweeper was renamed Captor and redesignated PYc-40 on 18 April. With alterations complete on 19 May, the vessel reported for duty with the 1st Naval District at Boston.
Unlike the other four ships eventually in the Q-ship program, Captor did not sail in convoys or along coastal shipping routes. Instead, she operated in the waters near Boston – in Massachusetts Bay, north to Casco Bay, east to the Georges Bank, and south to Nantucket Sound and Rhode Island Sound. While at sea, the disguised Q-ship also helped cover the coastal convoy routes coming north from New York. As growing air and sea patrols had driven most U-boats away from the New England coast in May 1942, Captor had little chance to spot an enemy submarine and ended her wartime career without a single sighting.
With the decline in the U-boat threat to the east coast of the United States late in the war, Captor was decommissioned at Boston on 4 October 1944. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 14 October 1944, the trawler was transferred to the War Shipping Administration and sold on 21 February 1945.
In 1959, the ship was acquired for use as a fishing boat, and renamed Wave. She passed through several owners over the following decades while serving in this capacity. In 2005, she was acquired by R & J Shipping Inc and returned to her original name Harvard. She went out of documentation in 2009, with her final fate unknown.[1]
As of 2005, no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Captor.
Referencesedit
^"Captor (PYc 40)". Navsource. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
captor, other, ships, with, same, name, eagle, eaglet, briefly, seventh, ship, bear, name, eagle, ship, united, states, navy, class, overviewpreceded, byauk, classsucceeded, byhawk, classhistoryunited, statesnamebuilderbethlehem, shipbuilding, corporation, for. For other ships with the same name see USS Eagle and USS Eaglet USS Captor PYc 40 briefly the seventh ship to bear the name USS Eagle AM 132 was a Q ship of the United States Navy Class overviewPreceded byAuk classSucceeded byHawk classHistoryUnited StatesNameUSS CaptorBuilderBethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation s Fore River Shipyard Quincy MassachusettsLaunched1938Acquiredby US Navy 1 January 1942Commissioned5 March 1942Decommissioned4 October 1944ReclassifiedAM 132 28 February 1942 PYc 40 18 April 1942Stricken14 October 1944IdentificationIMO number 5386825 Callsign WB4343FateSold 21 February 1945 In use as a fishing vessel as of 2009General characteristicsTypeQ shipDisplacement314 long tons 319 t Length133 ft 41 m Beam26 ft 7 9 m Speed12 5 knots 23 2 km h 14 4 mph Complement5 officers and 42 enlistedArmament1 4 inch 50 caliber gun 2 50 cal 12 7 mm machine guns 4 Depth charge throwers 2 30 caliber Lewis gunsBuilt as Harvard a steel hulled trawler in 1938 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation s Fore River Shipyard Quincy Massachusetts and handed over to General Sea Foods Corporation Boston and put into service as Wave Contents 1 Service history 1 1 Minesweeper 1 2 Q ship 2 ReferencesService history editMinesweeper edit The fishing trawler was acquired by the Navy as part of the Auxiliary Vessels Act on 1 January 1942 Reporting to the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery Maine the trawler began conversion to war service as a minesweeper on 8 January With the work complete on 28 February she was named Eagle given the hull classification symbol AM 132 and placed in commission on 5 March 1942 with Lieutenant Commander Leroy E Rogers USNR in command Q ship edit Along with Asterion AK 100 and Atik AK 101 Eagle was selected early to participate in a secret Q ship program The intention was to disguise the ship as a defenseless civilian vessel and after luring an enemy submarine into close quarters on the surface open fire with hidden guns and sink the unsuspecting U boat For this reason Eagle remained at Portsmouth where she underwent further conversion into a Q ship and received weapons and sonar gear During this second conversion the minesweeper was renamed Captor and redesignated PYc 40 on 18 April With alterations complete on 19 May the vessel reported for duty with the 1st Naval District at Boston Unlike the other four ships eventually in the Q ship program Captor did not sail in convoys or along coastal shipping routes Instead she operated in the waters near Boston in Massachusetts Bay north to Casco Bay east to the Georges Bank and south to Nantucket Sound and Rhode Island Sound While at sea the disguised Q ship also helped cover the coastal convoy routes coming north from New York As growing air and sea patrols had driven most U boats away from the New England coast in May 1942 Captor had little chance to spot an enemy submarine and ended her wartime career without a single sighting With the decline in the U boat threat to the east coast of the United States late in the war Captor was decommissioned at Boston on 4 October 1944 Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 14 October 1944 the trawler was transferred to the War Shipping Administration and sold on 21 February 1945 In 1959 the ship was acquired for use as a fishing boat and renamed Wave She passed through several owners over the following decades while serving in this capacity In 2005 she was acquired by R amp J Shipping Inc and returned to her original name Harvard She went out of documentation in 2009 with her final fate unknown 1 As of 2005 no other ship in the United States Navy has been named Captor References edit Captor PYc 40 Navsource Retrieved 18 June 2019 This article incorporates text from the public domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The entry can be found here Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USS Captor amp oldid 1171408489, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
