USS Abnaki
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spy trawler
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| History | |
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 United States | |
| Name | USS Abnaki |
| Namesake | Abenaki |
| Builder | Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. |
| Laid down | 28 November 1942 |
| Launched | 22 April 1943 |
| Commissioned | 25 November 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 30 September 1978 |
| Stricken | 30 September 1978 |
| Fate | Transferred to Mexico, 30 September 1978 |
 Mexico | |
| Name | Yaqui (A-18) |
| Acquired | 30 September 1978 |
| Status | In active service as of 2019[1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | fleet ocean tug |
| Displacement | 1,240 long tons (1,260 t) |
| Length | 205 ft (62 m) |
| Beam | 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) |
| Draft | 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m) |
| Speed | 16.5 knots (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h) |
| Complement | 85 |
| Armament |
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| Service record | |
| Part of: |
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| Operations: | |
| Awards: |
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USS Abnaki (ATF-96) was the lead ship of the
Operational history
1944–1949
The fleet ocean tug completed shakedown in
On 28 May of that year, she got underway from
The tug spent the early days of July in New York and stood out to sea on the 11th, towing two covered lighters,
On 24 April 1945, Abnaki passed between Capes
Abnaki remained there through the end of hostilities. Early in October, she shifted north to join the forces occupying Japan. That mission lasted through the end of 1945 and the first six months of 1946. On 6 July, the fleet tug departed Japanese waters and proceeded to China. Following a stop at
1950–1959
The tug continued to operate in Far Eastern waters while the communist tide swept over the Asian mainland engulfing not only China but also the northern half of Korea where the Soviet occupation forces had established a puppet regime under Kim Il Sung on 1 May 1948. Just over two years later, that event led to the invasion of South Korea by communist forces from the north late in June 1950. Though American units, under the auspices of a Soviet-boycotted United Nations, moved into the breach quickly, Abnaki did not enter the zone of combat operations for over a year. In July 1951, however, she joined Service Division (ServDiv) 31 in providing mobile logistics support to the United Nations naval task forces engaged in the conflict. Abnaki's direct support for United Nations forces in Korea ended in February 1952, and she resumed service in Western and Central Pacific waters somewhat removed from the designated combat zone.
Save for an overhaul or two at the
Her itinerary changed late in February 1957 when she steamed to San Francisco, to take
Upon her return to Hawaii midway through 1959, Abnaki took up the familiar chore of towing various types of vessels between locations in the islands and to the more distant Johnston and Midway.
1960–1969
On 6 February 1960, she stood out of Pearl Harbor and shaped a course just a few degrees west of north. The tug arrived at Adak, Alaska, on the 14th and assisted in the salvage of USS Kodiak before sailing for Oahu on 5 May. Arriving in Pearl Harbor on 12 May, the ship resumed her mid-Pacific duties. On 3 April 1961, she embarked upon another deployment to the western Pacific. After four months of towing duties between such ports as Sasebo and Yokosuka in Japan, Ream in Cambodia, Naha and Buckner Bay at Okinawa, and Subic Bay in the Philippines, Abnaki returned to Pearl Harbor on 8 August.
Following a leave, upkeep, and repair period, she once again began mid-Pacific duties early in September and continued the task through the year's end. On 24 January 1962, she departed Pearl Harbor and arrived in Adak on 1 February. The fleet tug conducted local operations in the Aleutians until 20 April when she shaped a course for
That four-month tour of duty consisted of the normal round of port visits and of towing services to units of the 7th Fleet. Similarly, her return to Pearl Harbor brought the familiar towing and salvage operations in the mid-Pacific operating area. That routine was broken only once, during late January and early February 1964 when she made a round-trip voyage to San Francisco. Abnaki spent much of 1964 in operations out of Pearl Harbor and concluded the year preparing to deploy to the western Pacific.
During the latter part of 1964, American involvement in
After eight days of upkeep at Subic Bay, she put to sea for a second tour of duty in Vietnamese waters. That mission concluded, Abnaki shaped a course for Hong Kong on 30 April for a liberty call from 3 to 8 May. Following a visit to Yokosuka from 14 to 20 May, the ship began the voyage back to Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 1 June. After a 16-day leave and upkeep period, she resumed mid-Pacific operations out of her home port.
Following a three-month overhaul, three weeks of refresher training, and almost two months of local operations, Abnaki departed Pearl Harbor on 29 March 1966 for the western Pacific. She stopped at Guam along the way, before arriving in
The beginning of 1967 saw her resume local operations between Hawaii and the outlying islands. During the first three weeks in May, the fleet tug made a round-trip voyage to Seattle, Wash. After returning, Abnaki carried out mid-Pacific towing duties until mid-August. On the 18th, she exited Pearl Harbor on her way back to the Far East. Following stops at Guam and Subic Bay, the ship arrived at Danang on 15 September, took up duty on trawler surveillance patrol on Yankee Station, and spent most of the following month shadowing the Soviet trawler Ampermetr. Relieved on 15 October, Abnaki proceeded to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. On the way, however, she encountered Typhoon "Carla" and had to detour. Later, she went to the assistance of an Army tug towing a crane. When the Army vessel suffered mechanical difficulties that forced her to cut loose the crane to save herself, Abnaki brought the crane in safely. Next, she spent six days of rest and relaxation at Hong Kong before returning to Subic Bay for a three-week upkeep period.
Abnaki departed Subic Bay on 25 November and set course for Vietnam. On the 27th, the fleet tug joined
The ship reentered her home port on 12 February and began over a month of post-deployment stand down. From 18 March to 8 July, the ship resumed her familiar mid-Pacific duties. On 8 July, she entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for an overhaul which lasted until 25 October. For the next month, she completed refresher training and preparations for overseas movement. On 26 November, Abnaki returned to sea, again bound for the Far East.
The voyage west brought stops at Guam and Subic Bay – where Abnaki delivered floating crane YD-127 – before she reentered the combat zone off Vietnam. The tug arrived at Da Nang on 31 December 1968. On the morning of New Year's Day 1969, she departed Danang to pick up garbage lighter YG-52 at Subic Bay. The ship arrived there on the 3rd, departed the next morning with her charge in tow, and delivered it at Da Nang on the 8th before heading back toward Subic Bay that same day. En route, she received orders to Naha, Okinawa, to assist in the salvage of a grounded tank landing ship. She completed that mission on 19 January, reentered Subic Bay on the 24th, and headed back toward Danang on the 29th. The ship arrived there on the 31st and, on 1 February, put to sea for a 21-day tour of duty on Yankee Station. Late in the month, she towed USS Asheville from Cam Ranh Bay to Yokosuka. In March, she visited Tsoying, Taiwan, to train members of the Taiwanese Navy in salvage techniques. After a liberty call at Hong Kong early in April, the ship returned to Subic Bay until late in the month. She got underway on the 26th bound for Guam with the medium auxiliary floating dry dock USS Resourceful in tow. She and her charge reached Apra Harbor on 15 May; and, on the 16th, Abnaki continued on toward Hawaii.
1970–1978
The fleet tug arrived in Pearl Harbor on 28 May and began post-deployment stand down and a restricted availability. She commenced local operations on 1 July and that assignment continued into 1970. Late in January of that year, Abnaki headed for the western Pacific and arrived in Subic Bay toward the end of the second week in February. Although most of that deployment was devoted to operations out of Subic Bay followed by visits to Sasebo and Hong Kong, the fleet tug made a voyage into the Vietnam combat zone when she visited Da Nang late in May. In mid-June, she headed back to Pearl Harbor where she arrived at the end of the month for operations out of that port into the spring of the following year.
On 29 April 1971, she pointed her bow westward once more to deploy with the 7th Fleet in the Far East. She made a stop at Guam before arriving in Subic Bay in mid-May. Later in the month, she voyaged to Vung Tau, South Vietnam, apparently to deliver a tow, because she departed the Vietnamese port on the same day she arrived. The Vietnam War does not appear to have played a major role in her 1971 deployment since she made only a few brief stops there—mostly at Vung Tau. She spent a large proportion of her time in and around Subic Bay and made port visits to Hong Kong; Singapore; and Ream, Cambodia. Following the grounding of the USS Regulus on Kau I Chau Island, Hong Kong, on the night of 16–17 August 1971 during Typhoon Rose, Abnaki was the first U.S. Navy vessel to arrive on scene to begin salvage operations. Late in September, Abnaki stood out of Subic Bay for Apra Harbor, Guam, on her way back to Pearl Harbor. After an eight-day layover at Apra Harbor, she continued her voyage to the Oahu base where she arrived on 20 October to resume Hawaiian operations.
Towing and training missions occupied her time until she put to sea on 21 August 1972 to rejoin the 7th Fleet in the western Pacific. Towing one Philippine minesweeper, escorting another, and making stops at Midway and Guam, Abnaki took over a month to make the voyage to Subic Bay. She arrived there on 28 September and remained until 3 October when she returned to sea to tow a floating crane to Vietnam. She arrived in Da Nang on 7 October, delivered her charge, and began duty as the standby salvage ship there. That duty involved staying in Da Nang harbor during the day to provide salvage services and putting to sea each night because of the threat posed by Viet Cong sapper-swimmers. She concluded that assignment on 20 October and then visited Hong Kong and Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The tug returned to Subic Bay in mid-November and then ended the year visiting such ports as Ream, Singapore, and Bangkok.
During the latter portion of this deployment, Abnaki made no voyages to Vietnam. Instead, she operated exclusively out of Subic Bay, breaking that routine but once during the second half of January 1973 for missions to Kaohsiung and Tsoying in Taiwan. On 20 February, she departed Subic Bay to return home. Along the way, the tug made stops at Guam and Kwajalein before reentering Pearl Harbor on 13 March. Renewed operations out of Pearl Harbor lasted until 25 June 1973 when she got underway for a new home port – San Diego, California. The ship stood into her new base on 13 July and spent the remainder of the year either in port at San Diego or making tows to various points along the California coast. That employment continued into the New Year 1974. On 19 February, the ship entered the Fellows & Stuart Shipyard for a seven-month overhaul.
Abnaki completed the overhaul on 19 September and returned to San Diego the next day. Refresher training followed in October; and, at the beginning of November, she resumed west coast operations out of San Diego. During December 1974 and the first part of January 1975, she prepared for overseas duty. On the 11th, the tug weighed anchor to begin her voyage to the Far East. She made only one stop – at Pearl Harbor from 20 to 22 January – before arriving in Subic Bay on 9 February. Two days later, she got underway to participate in Readex 1–75 conducted in the South China Sea. Following that exercise, Abnaki visited Yokosuka and Sasebo in Japan. In March, she made a four-day liberty call at Hong Kong followed by a visit to Singapore. She returned to Subic Bay early in April but, on the 10th, got underway for Vung Tau where she salvaged the cargo door of a
Operations along the California coast kept the tug busy until the beginning of October when she began an extended restricted availability at San Diego. The new year began with the ship still in port at San Diego. However, she embarked upon her first tow on 2 January 1976 and remained active – shuttling tows between various California ports for the first seven months of 1976. On 7 August, the ship left San Diego to join a
The fleet tug conducted operations out of Subic Bay over the following month. On 7 November, she stood out of Subic Bay bound for Borneo. She made a five-day visit at Kuching and then got underway on 16 November for Puerto Princesa on Palawan in the southwestern Philippines. Abnaki returned to Subic Bay on 22 November and remained there until the 26th when she shaped a course for Hong Kong. At the crown colony from 29 November to 9 December, she combined business with pleasure, serving as station submarine service ship while portions of her crew enjoyed liberty ashore. The ship returned to Subic Bay on 11 December and remained until the 19th. On the latter day, she shaped a course for the Marianas. Abnaki arrived at Guam on Christmas Eve day 1976. On 29 December, she headed for Kwajalein to embark Rear Admiral Carroll, Commander, Naval Forces, Marianas, for transportation to Kusaie Atoll for its independence celebration. The round-trip voyage from Kwajalein to Kusaie took from 2 to 6 January 1977. On 8 January, Abnaki sailed to Guam where she picked up two-yard craft to tow to Pearl Harbor. Departing Guam on 12 January 1977, she dropped off her charges at Pearl Harbor on 13 February, resumed her voyage to the west coast the following day, and reached San Diego on 22 February.
Abnaki spent the remainder of her Navy career operating along the west coast. Following post-deployment stand down and an extended availability, in May, she resumed towing and other operations along the California coast including surveillance operations, other fleet services, and training evolutions. At the beginning of 1978, Abnaki towed a cable-laying ship to Panama. During that voyage, she also made a call at Esmeraldas, Ecuador, before returning to San Diego on 12 February 1978. Normal operations along the west coast occupied her time from mid-February until April. The first week in April brought fleet exercises followed by a resumption of fleet services. During the first half of June, Abnaki participated in another series of fleet exercises and then resumed her usual west coast missions.
On 15 August 1978, Abnaki began preparations for decommissioning and transfer to the Mexican Navy. She was placed out of commission on 30 September 1978 and was simultaneously transferred to the Mexican Navy. Her name was struck from the Navy list that same day, and she was commissioned in the Mexican Navy as Yaqui (A-18), Lt. Guttierez .
Awards
- American Campaign Medal
- European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy Occupation Medalwith "ASIA" clasp
- China Service Medal
- National Defense Service Medal with star
- Korean Service Medal
- Vietnam Service Medal
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
- United Nations Korea Medal
- Korean War Service Medal
- Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
References
- ^ "Fleet Tug (ATF)".
- ^ "ATR-41 Class". shipscribe.com. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
- ^ "USS ABNAKI - War Diary, 7/1-31/44". National Archives.
This article includes information collected from the public domain sources Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships and Naval Vessel Register.
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