USS Cahuilla

History
United States
Name	USS Cahuilla
Namesake	Cahuilla Native American people
Builder	Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.
Laid down	as Cahuilla (AT-152)
Launched	2 November 1944
Commissioned	10 March 1945
Decommissioned	27 June 1947
Reclassified	Fleet Ocean Tug (ATF-152), 15 May 1944
Stricken	9 July 1961
Fate	Transferred under the Security Assistance Program to Argentina, 9 July 1961
History
Argentina
Name	ARA Comandante General Irigoyen (A-1)
Acquired	9 July 1961
Out of service	2009
Fate	Museum ship
General characteristics
Class and type	Abnaki class fleet tug
Displacement	1,240 long tons (1,260 t) light; 1,646 long tons (1,672 t) full;
Length	205 ft (62 m)
Beam	38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draft	15 ft 5 in (4.70 m)
Propulsion	4 × Diesel-electric engines, 3,000 hp (2,237 kW), single screw
Speed	16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Complement	85
Armament	1 × 3"/50 caliber gun; 2 × twin 40 mm guns; 2 × 20 mm guns;

USS Cahuilla (ATF-152) was an

Abnaki class fleet tug in the service of the United States Navy during World War II. In 1961 she was sold to the Argentine Navy as ARA Irigoyen (A-1) where she served until 2009 when she became a Museum ship

.

US Navy service

She was laid down as Cahuilla (AT-152) at Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. of Charleston, South Carolina; redesignated fleet ocean tug (ATF-152) on 15 May 1944; launched on 2 November 1944; and commissioned USS Cahuilla (ATF-152) on 10 March 1945.

World War II Pacific Theatre operations

USS Cahuilla's first service to the U.S. Navy was a brief tour as

Okinawa

.

From 26 July to 6 August, she served to escort

tug for the ships passing through the dangerous waters off Okinawa, subject to the desperate suicide attacks of Japanese aircraft

.

End-of-War operations

The end of the war found USS Cahuilla at sea, bound for salvage operations at

Nagasaki, Japan

, until 16 October. From that time she was based on Okinawa for rescue and tow operations until 14 February 1946.

USS Cahuilla continued to offer towing service to fleet units, and rescue work to naval and merchant ships, calling at

west coast and Panama Canal Zone

until January 1947.

*Cahuilla* passes beneath Golden Gate Bridge in 1946

Decommissioning

USS Cahuilla was decommissioned on 27 June 1947 at

Security Assistance Program, to Argentina

on 9 July 1961.

Argentine Navy service

In 1961 the tug was acquired by the Argentine Navy as an Aviso and renamed ARA Comandante General Irigoyen (A-1) in honor of Spaniard Don Matías de Irigoyen y de la Quintana who was War Secretary between 1815 and 1819. Commandante General Irigoyen carried out search and rescue activities in the Falklands War, in the area of Task Force 50.

A helicopter belonging to the ARA HÉRCULES was rescued from the sea in the area delimited as TOAS, almost 30 miles from the coast. the operation was risky since the unit was 30 meters deep and the divers had to sterilize all of its anti-submarine configuration that was activated by water pressure, then it went to Puerto Deseado to relieve the ARA Somellera Warning After the transfer of its antenna, the specific mission, in addition to being a search and rescue unit, was to support all the aircraft that went to and returned from Malvinas, the antenna was placed on the ship to carry out trigonometry so that the Argentine planes could locate on the continent the area called FT 50 under the command of Rear Admiral RE, now deceased, Héctor Martini. It is paradoxical that both the Sobral and the Somellera, together with the Area Chief, were considered Malvinas War Veterans and the ARA Irigoyen was not, fulfilling the same or more missions in the same geographical location on hot dates of the war and within the TOAS, That is why today in Naval jargon it is called "the ghost ship" http://avisoarairigoyen.blogspot.com/ . It also served as an Antarctic support and practice and training ship for divers and submarines. On September 29, 2009, with 400,000 miles sailed in the Argentine Sea, it was finally retired.

South Atlantic, she was finally retired.^[3]

Museum

In January 2010, she was transferred to the care of the municipality of

San Pedro, Buenos Aires Province and permanently moored as the Buque Museo Irigoyen, the third Argentine museum ship, opening to the public in May 2010.^[2] On 5 November 2020 the tug was found to be listing dangerously after taking water and assistance was sought from the Navy to prevent her sinking or breaking free.^[4]