The USS Captor (PYc-40), originally built as the steel-hulled fishing trawler Harvard in 1938 by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, underwent significant transformations before serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Initially operated as the fishing vessel Wave by the General Sea Foods Corporation, she was acquired by the Navy on January 1, 1942, under the Auxiliary Vessels Act. The vessel was then converted into a minesweeper at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, with her conversion completed by February 28, 1942. Upon commissioning on March 5, 1942, she was designated AM-132 and commanded by Lieutenant Commander Leroy E. Rogers. In a strategic shift, the vessel was chosen for a secret "Q-ship" program aimed at deceiving enemy submarines. During her second conversion into a Q-ship, she was renamed Captor and redesignated PYc-40 on April 18, 1942. This conversion included the addition of hidden armament and sonar gear, transforming her into a disguised civilian vessel capable of engaging U-boats on the surface. She operated primarily near Boston, in waters such as Massachusetts Bay, Casco Bay, Georges Bank, and surrounding areas, tasked with covering coastal convoy routes and acting as bait for enemy submarines. Despite her strategic role, Captor did not encounter any U-boats during her service, partly due to the declining German U-boat activity off the U.S. East Coast by mid-1942. Captor was decommissioned on October 4, 1944, and struck from the Naval Vessel Register shortly thereafter. She was transferred to the War Shipping Administration and sold in February 1945. Post-war, she returned to civilian use as a fishing vessel, renamed Wave in 1959, and later reverted to her original name Harvard in 2005. Over the decades, she changed owners multiple times, serving various capacities until she went out of documentation in 2009. Her final fate remains unknown, and she holds the distinction of being the only U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Captor.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.