USS Wandank (ATA-204)

	USS Wandank (ATA-204) in the Pacific Ocean in 1966-1967
History
United States
Name	USS ATA-204 (1945-1952); USS Wandank (1952-1971);
Builder	Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur, Texas
Laid down	25 September 1944
Launched	9 November 1944
Commissioned	18 January 1945
Decommissioned	26 November 1947
Recommissioned	3 May 1952
Decommissioned	1 July 1971
Renamed	From USS ATA-204 to USS Wandank 1952
Stricken	1 August 1973
Honors and; awards	3 battle stars for Vietnam War service
Fate	Sunk as target, 1979
Notes	Department of the Interior service as MV Wandank 1971-1973 and from 1973
General characteristics
Class and type	Sotoyomo-class auxiliary fleet tug
Displacement	610 tons (light); 860 tons (full load);
Length	143 ft 0 in (43.59 m)
Beam	33 ft 10 in (10.31 m)
Draft	13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Speed	13 knots
Complement	45
Armament	1 × 3"/50 dual purpose gun; 2 × twin antiaircraft guns;

The second USS Wandank (ATA-204), originally USS ATA-204, was a

Trieste in Project Nekton; she towed the bathyscaphe some 260 nautical miles (482 kilometers) from Guam to the vicinity of the Challenger Deep

, where, on 23 January 1960, Trieste descended to a record 10,911 metres (35,797 feet).

Construction and commissioning

Originally projected as

Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works. She was launched on 9 November 1944 and commissioned

on 18 January 1945. She was 143 ft in length and displaced 835 tons.

First period in commission, 1945-1947

World War II service, 1945

Following her shakedown in the Caribbean, ATA-204 got underway on 23 February 1945 for the Panama Canal, en route to World War II service in the Pacific Ocean. She operated with the United States Pacific Fleet through the end of hostilities, performing services at locales ranging from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to the Marshall Islands.

Postwar service and decommissioning, 1945-1947

After hostilities ended on 15 August 1945, ATA-204 returned to the

decommissioned

on 26 November 1947 and placed in reserve.

Second period in commission, 1952-1971

Pearl Harbor service, 1952-1955

The onset of the

14th Naval District. Recommissioned at Pearl Harbor on 3 May 1952 she was renamed USS Wandank while retaining her "ATA-204" designation. She operated out of Pearl Harbor until 1955, providing tug and tow services for the Pacific Fleet, and occasionally deployed to American Samoa

and other Pacific islands with tows.

Mariana Islands service, 1955-1967

On 9 September 1955, Wandank was transferred to the

search-and-rescue operations, provided target services for gunnery and torpedo exercises, and conducted local surveillance missions out of Guam

into the 1960s.

During this deployment, Wandank supported scientific operations in addition to her more routine duties. In January 1960, for example, she served as communication relay and support ship for the

Trieste in Project Nekton; she towed the bathyscaphe some 260 nautical miles (482 kilometers) from Guam to the vicinity of the Challenger Deep

, where, on 23 January 1960, Trieste descended to a record 37,000 feet (11,000 meters). Hydrophone gear aboard Wandank was still able to communicate with the craft once on the bottom, although the sound waves took seven seconds to make a one-way journey from ship to bathyscaphe, which was nearly seven miles deep.

On occasion, Wandank's operations nonetheless assumed a dangerous character during tropical

Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands

. In the heavy seas, her tow line parted, leaving USS YCV-18 adrift. During the ensuing recovery operations, the tug's Lieutenant JG, J. B. Clark, ordered everyone off the fantail out of harm's way. While operating the winch he was knocked overboard when the tow line snapped. Several crewmen jumped in to try to save him but were not able to get him back on board.

In November 1964, Wandank conducted a survey of the

University of Hawaii's Institute of Geophysics and the Office of Naval Research; during the course of this operation, she measured the earth's gravity

in the area.

In July 1966, Wandank rendezvoused with Japanese merchantman Yeiji Maru, which had been experiencing engine trouble, and escorted the distressed ship to Guam. Later that year, she towed SS Old Westbury to a safe haven, relieving auxiliary ocean tug USS Sunnadin (ATA-197), which had run low on fuel on 11 November 1966.

The year 1967 passed with much the same routine.

Vietnam War and Mariana Islands service, 1968-1971

In 1968, Wandank participated in her first operations in connection with the

Vung Tau

, South Vietnam, from 16 August 1968 to 1 September 1968.

Wandank commenced in 1969 with more island surveillance missions in the central Caroline Islands, sending a landing party ashore from her crew to ascertain the needs of the islanders who lived under the care and protection of the

Sattahip, Thailand

, to Vung Tau, South Vietnam, from 13 April 1969 to 8 May 1969.

Upon returning to the vicinity of the Mariana and Caroline Islands soon thereafter, she conducted local operations through the end of 1969. Wandank interrupted this duty only long enough to tow landing craft utility USS LCU-1483 to Ponape Island and USS LCU-1497 to Majuro, from 25 November 1969 to 4 December 1969.

During her final full year of naval service, 1970, Wandank conducted local operations out of her home port of Apra Harbor, Guam.

She got underway from Guam on 20 January 1971 for

Asheville-class patrol gunboats to Subic Bay, the Philippines and Cam Ranh Bay

. South Vietnam, serving as a communication back-up vessel. She later escorted two gunboats from Cam Ranh Bay to Hong Kong before returning to island surveillance duties.

Final decommissioning and disposal

Decommissioned at Guam on 1 July 1971, Wandank was simultaneously turned over to the

Navy List

on 1 August 1973. Subsequently, returned to the Department of the Interior as her original designation number ATR-131, she resumed service in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands on island surveillance and local towing duties.

She was finally sunk as a target ship in 1979.[1]

Honors and awards

Wandank was awarded three

battle stars

for her Vietnam War service.

References

^ [1] Table giving fate of USN tugs after decommissioning. Length, tonnage, and date of commission is also given.

External links

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

[1] [1] Table giving fate of USN tugs after decommissioning. Length, tonnage, and date of commission is also given.