YO-257

The YO-257 is a Navy Yard Oiler sunk off of Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii in 1989. The ship was built in the 1940s, and when it was retired, Atlantis Submarines Hawaii purchased it and sank it for an artificial reef. The sea floor surrounding the ship is approximately 100 feet (30 m) deep, and the top deck of the ship is roughly 85 feet (26 m) deep. Directly abeam to the YO-257, colloquially called the YO by area divers, is the [http://www.oahudiving.com/sanpedro.htm San Pedro shipwreck] of Hawaii, intentionally sunk by Atlantis Submarines in 1996. The two ships are visited frequently by Atlantis and are popular dive sites. There is a preponderance of marine life on both ships, mostly turtles and reef sharks such as the white tip reef shark.

YO-257 Operational Period September 16, 1963 through November 12, 1963. During this period Coast Guard Personnel were assigned additional temporary duty aboard the Navy YO257 on loan from the Navy.

The nature of this assignment was in connection with the establishment of a LORAN A-C Station in Yap, Western Caroline Islands. Prior to the Coast Guard acceptance and during the operational deployment of the YO-257, the General clean up, fitting out for sea and maintaining the YO-257 in a state of operational readiness required extensive effort from the assigned crew. This requirement was met with hearty spirit and willingness serve that is in evidence in all Coast Guard operations.

The YO-257 wasn't equipped to take on the 400 mile trip from Guam to Yap. No radar or other navigational equipment was on board. Each afternoon a plane would fly over and give us any course corrections needed. The rear gun mount was sealed and a shower head installed in order to give us water to shower with. If the gun mount was empty, we utilized the afternoon rains. The ship could only carry enough water for drinking. The YO- 257 carried water based asphalt to be used for a runway for planes servicing the new LORAN A-C Station. In order for the crew to have lockers and bunks, we had to remove them from other ships moth balled in Guam.