YAG training vessels

YAG (Yard Auxiliary, General) training vessels are convert|75|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on wooden boats built between 1954 and 1958, and based at CFB Esquimalt in Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada. The vessels are used for training Canadian Forces regular naval officers, naval reservists, and members of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets in basic seamanship, vessel handling, and navigation. According to the Department of National Defence, "in 2000, a total of 1830 personnel were deployed on the YAGs for a total of 585 days and steamed over convert|25000|nmi|km in support of training." [http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/newsroom/view_news_e.asp?id=1509]

Layout

YAGs displace 70 tonnes, and are divided into five major below-decks compartments: right forward, a chain locker, then the forward cabin, containing the galley, one of the heads (washrooms) and the officer's eating and sleeping areas, as well as the gyroscopic (gyro) compass.

Roughly midships, just aft of the forward cabin, is the engine room, containing twin Detroit Diesel 6-71 series engines (totaling 320 horsepower), as well as a Yanmar diesel generator.

Abaft the engine room is the after cabin. Depending on the YAG, it may sleep up to fourteen people (twelve on 312), and contains the other head, and a rarely-used shower. Two layers of bunks run along the hull, with a table on the centreline. Right aft is tiller flats, containing part of the waste water treatment system and various general storage.

Above decks, one finds the wheelhouse, mounted on the forward cabin's coaming; aft of that, the exposed breezeway; and, mounted on the after cabin's coaming, a Zodiac launch as well as a food locker and barbecue. Above the wheelhouse is an open bridge, fitted with chart table and a gyro compass repeater. A second gyro repeater is fitted on the quarterdeck. Each YAG is equipped with a small navigation radar, with the display located in the wheelhouse.

The washrooms are equipped with a pump-action lever, that is used to pump the sewage into the ocean water. On many YAG's the sewage directly leaves the boat and is pumped into the water.

Future of the YAGs

They are being replaced by the Patrol Class Training Tenders "Orca"-class training vessels. The first tender, "Orca", was launched August 9, 2006 at [http://www.vicship.com Victoria Shipyard] in Esquimalt, British Columbia and was handed over to the Navy on November 17, 2006. The YAGS will be withdrawn from service after the fall of 2008.

List of YAG vessels based at CFB Esquimalt