USC&GS Yukon (1898)

For other ships with the same name, see USC&GS Yukon.
Yukon in Alaskan waters
History
United States
Name: Yukon
Awarded: April 9, 1898
Builder: Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co., Morris Heights, New York
Cost: $10,926.40 USD
Launched: August 20, 1898 at St. Michael, Alaska after being shipped in components by way of Seattle from New York.
Completed: 1898
Commissioned: 1898
Decommissioned: 1923
General characteristics
Type: Survey ship
Length: 75 ft (23 m)
Beam: 15 ft 7 in (4.75 m)
Draft: 5 ft (1.5 m)
Propulsion: Steam engine and sail

USC&GS Yukon was a steamer that served as a survey ship in the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey from 1898 to 1923. She was the second and last Coast and Geodetic Survey ship to bear the name.

Construction and characteristics

Yukon was built under a contract let April 9, 1898 to Gas Engine & Power Co. and Charles L. Seabury Co., Morris Heights, New York for building the ship in components suitable for shipping under the supervision of Assistant J. F. Pratt. The components were shipped by rail to Seattle, Washington and then to St. Michael, Alaska arriving July 3, 1898 where a survey team under Assistant Pratt was waiting, having arrived June 29, 1898. On July 11 enough material was on shore to begin laying the keel. Work was delayed by necessary repairs to the steamer Taku which had arrived in "disabled condition" but Yukon was completed and launched on August 20, 1898–forty-one days after her keel had been laid and only twenty-nine days actual work on assembling Yukon. From twenty to men assembled the vessel for launching. She was put in commission immediately with all equipment and stores loaded by August 23, 1898 "at 2:15 a.m. she started for the mouth of the Kwiklok[Note 1] by way of the Aproon Mouth" for surveys. From the "Aproon Mouth" she towed a scow with the party's camping outfit to the Kwiklok where she arrived August 26, 1898.[1]

Service History

After a brief stay on the survey grounds all vessels, including Yukon headed to St. Michael on September 10, 1898 for winter storage. After arrival on September 13 the Yukon, Taku, two steam launches, scow and eight "pulling boats" were housed for the winter. The survey party embarked on the USS Wheeling for Seattle.[1]

In the summer of 1912, Yukon rendered assistance to the inhabitants of Kodiak, Alaska, following an eruption of Mount Katmai. Tragedy struck her in November 1916 when a member of her crew, watchman F. A. Paul, was lost by probable drowning at Kings Cove on the Alaska Peninsula.

After serving exclusively in Alaskan waters, Yukon was retired from Coast and Geodetic Survey service in 1923.

Notes

  1. ↑ One of the outlets in the Yukon delta, now spelled Kwikluak (Geographic dictionary of Alaska)

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1899). Report Of The Superintendent of the Coast And Geodetic Survey Showing The Progress Of Work From July 1, 1898 To June 30, 1899. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 213, 231.
Yukon operating under steam and sail.
Yukon in 1911, aground on the tidal flats of the Kasilof River.
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