YRBM 18

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

YRBM-18 Class Repair, Berthing and Messing Barge Keel Laid March 5 1945 - Launched June 9 1945 APL-55 Placed In Service as Barracks Craft (APL) (Date unknown) Out of Service (Date unknown) Loaned to U.S. Army 1951 Returned to U.S. Navy (Date unknown) YRBM-18 Redesignated Repair, Berthing and Messing Barge (YRBM) 1968 Placed In Service 1968 - Out of Service December 1970 Transferred (Loaned) to South Vietnam December 1970 Sold to South Vietnam 10 November 1972 Struck from Naval Register November 27 1972 Fate unknown

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each name of the ship (for example, Bushnell AG-32 / Sumner AGS-5 are different names for the same ship so there should be one set of pages for Bushnell and one set for Sumner). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. YRBM-18 Covers Page 1     (1969)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each name and/or commissioning period. Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Locy Type 2r (USS)

1969-04-07

Note:

 

Locy Type 9fu

1969-03-26

Note:

 

Other Information

YRBM-18 earned the Combat Action Ribbon, the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the National Defense Service Medal (2 awards), the Vietnam Service Medal w/ 11 Campaign stars, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation Ribbon and the Vietnam Campaign Medal during her Naval career.

 

Historical Note

From crew member C. Gaylen Gage:

"[T]he name change from APL55 to YRBM18 was in early 1968. I was aboard as EN3, diesel engine repair/rebuild specialist. We also had a barge for making fresh water (pump, filter, treat etc.) and a beer barge. Both barges were towed behind the APL55/YRBM18. The entire thing was towed by MIKE boats as the craft only had engines(3) to run electrical generators and boilers(2) for cooking."

 

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