Tugboat of the United States Navy
USS
Papago
(ATF-160)
![USS Papago (ATF-166)](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/USS_Papago_ATF-160.jpg/300px-USS_Papago_ATF-160.jpg) USS
Papago
(ATF-160) c. 1954
|
History
|
United States
|
Builder
| Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
|
Laid down
| 19 March 1945
|
Launched
| 21 June 1945
|
Sponsored by
| Mrs. William Thomas Johnston
|
Commissioned
| 3 October 1945
|
Decommissioned
| 28 July 1992
|
Stricken
| 23 February 1995
|
Honours and
awards
| |
Status
| Inactive Fleet - Philadelphia, PA
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Abnaki
-class
fleet ocean tug
|
Displacement
|
- 1,205 tons (light),
- 1,646 tons (full)
|
Length
| 205 ft (62 m)
|
Beam
| 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
|
Draft
| 15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
|
Propulsion
| Diesel-electric
, four
General Motors
12-278A diesel main engines driving four
General Electric
generators and three General Motors 3-268A auxiliary services engines, single screw
|
Speed
| 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
|
Complement
| 8 officers, 68 enlisted men
|
Armament
| One single
3 in (76 mm)
gun mount, two twin-
40 mm
gun mounts, two single
20 mm
guns
|
USS
Papago
(ATF-160)
was an
Abnaki
-class
fleet ocean tug
built for the
United States Navy
during World War II, and named for the American Indian tribe of the
Piman family
that formerly lived south and southeast of the
Gila River
in
Arizona
and the Mexican state of
Sonora
.
Construction history
[
edit
]
Papago
was
laid down
at
Charleston
,
South Carolina
by the Charleston Shipbuilding and Drydock Company on 19 March 1945. She was launched on 21 June 1945, with Mrs. William Thomas Johnston as her sponsor.
Papago
was commissioned into the
United States Navy
on 3 October 1945.
Operational history
[
edit
]
Post-shakedown operations
[
edit
]
Following shakedown,
Papago
reported to the
Naval Operating Base
in
Newport, Rhode Island
, on 17 November 1945 and conducted training operations and movements to assist various vessels in distress for the remainder of that year.
Major towing and salvage operations
[
edit
]
- 1946?1950
After duty as a stand-by tug in
Bermuda
,
Papago
towed YD?171, the world's largest self-propelled
Floating crane
at the time, from
Bremerhaven
,
Germany
to
Cristobal, Colon
, in the
Panama Canal Zone
, from 14 August to 20 September 1946.
Papago
engaged in general towing, upkeep, and material maintenance for several months after which she made towing voyages in 1949 from the Panama Canal Zone to
Naval Station Norfolk
; from Norfolk to Newport; and from
Boston
to
Bayonne, New Jersey
.
USS
Missouri
(BB-63)
grounding (1950)
From 30 January to 7 February 1950,
Papago
was involved in re-floating the battleship
USS
Missouri
(BB-63)
, which had
run aground
in
Hampton Roads
on 17 January. She then moved decommissioned destroyer escorts to
Philadelphia
for the transfer to France under the Military Defense Assistance Program between 10 and 14 May 1950.
- 1961?1962
Papago
later towed the decommissioned heavy cruiser
USS
Des Moines
(CA-134)
from Boston to Philadelphia between 17 and 21 July 1961.
Papago
was subsequently engaged in the salvaging and re-floating operation involving the decommissioned destroyer
USS
Monssen
(DD-798)
, which had
grounded
at
Beach Haven
,
New Jersey
, while being towed by another vessel during a
severe storm
on 6 March 1962 between 6 March to 22 April. For this effort,
Papago
received a citation from
Admiral
Robert L. Dennison
, the Commander-in-Chef U.S. Atlantic Fleet (CINCLANTFLT).
- 1968
The first half of 1968 was marked by four and a half months of almost continuous steaming in coastal and Caribbean waters involving the pioneering of nuclear submarine towing methods, followed in the fall by participation in communications experiments in the Virginia Capes area.
Papago
received the Award of Excellence in Engineering for fiscal year 1968.
- 1982
On 10 November,
Papago
towed the newly decommissioned destroyer
USS
Barry
(DD-933)
to the
Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility
at the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
, reaching that facility on 12 March.
[1]
Naval exercises & operations
[
edit
]
Papago
did not participate in the
Korean War
, while she did perform towing operations in coastal waters and the Caribbean.
Papago
did participate in refresher training and towed gunnery targets in the
Guantanamo Bay
area from 11 March to 16 July 1957. She participated in
NATO
's
Operation Strikeback
, deploying to
Scotland
from 14 to 28 September 1957.
Papago
also participated in
NASA
's manned space flight program as a naval support vessel for the following missions:
USS
Liberty
incident (1967)
Papago
participated in
quarantine operations
during the
Cuban Missile Crisis
from 10 October to 14 November 1962. In early 1963, she provided services for Operation Springboard in the Caribbean Sea and spent much of the remainder of 1963 and 1964 in the
Guantanamo Bay
and
Virginia Capes
areas.
Papago
later joined Commander Task Group 124.3 (CTG 124.3) in May 1965 for
duty
during the
crisis
in the
Dominican Republic
, then steamed in the North Atlantic as part of Commander Service Division 81 (ComServDiv 81).
While serving as a rescue, salvage, and towing ship for the
U.S. Sixth Fleet
in 1967,
Papago
provided escort and communication support to the stricken
USS
Liberty
(AGTR-5)
which had been
attacked
by
Israeli forces
during the
Six-Day War
.
Papago
ended 1968 undergoing an extensive overhaul at Newport News.
Starting 28 June 1985,
Papago
participated in
anti-drug
patrols in the
Caribbean Sea
as part of
Joint Task Force 4 (JTF-4)
.
[2]
Awards & citations
[
edit
]
Papago
received the following awards and citations during her commission as a unit of the United States Navy:
[3]
Disposal
[
edit
]
Papago
was decommissioned on 28 July 1992 and was struck from the Naval Registry on 14 February 1995. Following congressional approval in 1996 for transfer to the
Northeast Wisconsin Railroad Transportation Commission
, she was handed over on 29 December 1997 to the
Ontonagon County Economic Development Corporation
on behalf of the
Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad
, along with five other obsolete sister tugs.
[4]
They were intended for a new trans-Lake Superior freight car barge service between Ontonagon and
Thunder Bay
, Ontario,
[5]
though it has been suggested that the company sought the tug's four General Motors engines (24 in all) to use in their locomotives.
[6]
The project was abandoned in October 1999, shortly before title would have passed to the railroad company.
[5]
Papago
remained in lay-up between 1997 and 1999 and, as of June 2010, was still part of the Naval mothball fleet located in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
.
[3]
References
[
edit
]