USS Muskeget

History
USA
Name	USS Muskeget
Namesake	An island off southeast Massachusetts
Builder	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Sparrows Point, Maryland
Laid down	date unknown
Completed	in 1923 as SS Cornish
Acquired	by the US Navy, 29 December 1941
Commissioned	3 January 1942 as USS YAG-9
Decommissioned	30 June 1942
In service	1 July 1942 as USCGC Muskeget (WAG-48)
Out of service	9 September 1942 (sunk by torpedo)
Renamed	USS Muskeget (AG-48), 30 May 1942
Refit	Sullivan Drydock & Repair Co., New York
Stricken	26 October 1943
Fate	sunk by torpedo from U-755, 9 September 1942
General characteristics
Type	commercial cargo ship
Tonnage	370 tons
Tons burthen	1,827 tons
Length	233' 6"
Beam	20' 2"
Draft	24' 3"
Propulsion	one Hooven, Owens, Rentschler Company triple-expansion steam engine; two; Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation single-ended Scotch boilers, 190 psi; single propeller 1,300 SHP
Speed	11 knots
Complement	116 officers and enlisted
Armament	one single 4"/50 gun mount; one single 3"/50 gun mount; four single 20mm AA gun mounts; two depth charge tracks; four y-guns; two mousetraps

USS Muskeget (AG-48/YAG-9) – later known as USCGC Muskeget (WAG-48) – was a commercial cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was outfitted with a variety of guns and depth charge devices and sent on weather patrol in the North Atlantic Ocean. She disappeared with loss of all crew members; it was later determined she had been sunk by a German submarine.

Constructed in Maryland

Muskeget (YAG 9) was built as Cornish in 1923 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Sparrows Point, Maryland; acquired by the Navy 29 December 1941 from Eastern Shipbuilding Lines, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts; converted from a freighter by Sullivan Drydock & Repair Co., New York; and commissioned as YAG-9 on 3 January 1942.

World War II service

U.S. Navy service

Assigned to the 3d Naval District, YAG-9 performed patrol duty off New York until reclassified AG-48 and named Muskeget on 30 May.

Transferred to the Coast Guard

One month later, 30 June, the miscellaneous auxiliary was transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard and served with the North Atlantic Weather Patrol into the fall of 1942. She was last reported on station 11 September.

Presumed lost at sea

When Muskeget was overdue in reaching home port later in September, Muskeget was presumed lost with its complement of:

• 9 officers
• 107 enlisted
• 1 U.S. Public Health Service Officer
• 4 U.S. Weather Service employees

Dispositioning

On 26 October 1943. Muskeget was struck from the Navy List.

Subsequent determination

It was subsequently determined that Muskeget was sunk by torpedo by German submarine U-755 on 9 September 1942.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - USCGC Muskeget (WAG-48) – ex - USS Muskeget (AG-48) (1942) - USS YAG-9 (1942)