Crystal PY-26

Crystal

Quartz, transparent and colorless or with a slight tinge of color, used as a gem.

(PY-26: 1. 226'; b. 34'; dr. 13'; s. 18 k.; a. 2 3")

Crystal (PY-25) was built as Vida in 1929 by Pusey and Jones Co., Wilmington, Del.; acquired by the Navy 15 January 1942; and commissioned 21 February 1942 Lieutenant Commander O. B. Drotning, USNR (Ret.), in command.

Crystal arrived at Pearl Harbor 1 May for duty with the Hawaiian Sea Frontier. She served on patrol and escort duty in the island area, escorting Army transports and merchant vessels to outlying islands; transported civilian workers and servicemen; and joined in exercises and drills with destroyers. From 1 December 1943 to 14 April 1944 she based at Midway for patrol duty and exercises and training with submarines. After overhaul at Pearl Harbor she returned to operations under the Hawaiian Sea Frontier, adding weather station patrols to her duties. On 8 November 1945 she got underway for the west coast, arriving at San Francisco 17 November. Crystal was decommissioned there 6 March 1946 and transferred to the Maritime Commission 2 April 1947.

Taber; commissioned 19 December 1946, Lieutenant Commander R. W. Paine, Jr., in command; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet.

After shakedown training off New London, Cubera arrived at Key West, Fla., 19 March 1946. She tested sonar equipment, provided services to experimental antisubmarine warfare development projects in the Florida Straits, and joined in fleet exercises until 4 July 1947 when she sailed to Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for extensive modernization.

Returning to Key West 9 March 1948 Cubera continued to operate locally out of this port, as well as taking part in fleet exercises in the Caribbean and Atlantic until 3 July 1952 when she arrived at Norfolk, her new home port. Through 1957 Cubera conducted local operations, and participated in fleet exercises in the Caribbean, as well as cruising to Sydney, Nova Scotia, in June 1955. During 1959 and 1960, she was assigned to TF "Alfa," a force conducting constant experiments to improve antisubmarine warfare techniques. With this group she cruised the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Bermuda.