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 (Date unknown) - Out of Service November 1972 Transferred to South Vietnam November 10 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. Covers Page 1     (DATE RANGE)

 

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)

1969-03-30

Note:

 

Other Information

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons...
Combat Action Ribbon - Presidential Unit Citation - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Vietnam Service Medal (11) - Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation - Vietnam Campaign Medal

Personal Awards...
Purple Hearts (1 - KIA, GMG1 Herbert E. Belcher, March 31 1969) (1 - MIA, CS1 Ward K. Patton, July 27 1968)

 

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."

 

---

 

If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

---

Copyright 2024 Naval Cover Museum