I should hope so - as you say it is about 70 year old technology. But it would not be tuned to local VHF frequencies as there would be no reason for that.
True, but having hired several Navy electronics techs when I was in the wireless telecom biz, I have full confidence that the techs on those ships could cobble something together that would do DF. A yaggi hooked to a spectrum analyzer would be all they needed for a crude direction finder. The guys I hired were some pretty smart fellas with excellent troubleshooting skills, even on devices they'd never seen before. Considering they had no real formal engineering training, their level of knowledge of complex circuitry was quite impressive. I'm told the Navy teaches their techs a lot more theory and less about how to just fix a particular box, compared to the other branches of the military. This is especially true for the sub guys. After all, there ain't no service calls out in the middle of the ocean....
... as there would be no reason for that.
Seems like there is a pretty good reason to have the capability now.....