USS Mosopelea | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Mosopelea |
Namesake | Mosopelea |
Builder | Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. |
Laid down | 2 January 1945 |
Launched | 7 May 1945 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. David Leroy Key |
Commissioned | 28 July 1945 |
Decommissioned | 2 July 1973 |
Stricken | 21 February 1992 |
Identification |
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Honours and awards | See Awards |
Fate | Sunk as target, 27 October 1999 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Abnaki-class tugboat |
Displacement |
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Length | 205 ft 0 in (62.48 m) |
Beam | 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) |
Draft | 15 ft 4 in (4.67 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
Range | 15,000 nmi (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
Complement | 85 officers and enlisted |
Sensors and processing systems | AN/SPS-5B surface-search radar |
Armament |
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USS Mosopelea (ATF-158) was Abnaki-class tugboat during the World War II and Cold War. Her namesake is an Indian tribe which inhabited the area near the junction of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. [1]
The ship is displaced 1,589 tonnes (1,564 long tons) at standard load and 1,675 tonnes (1,649 long tons) at deep load The ships measured 205 feet (62.5 m) long overall with a beam of 38 feet 6 inches (11.7 m). They had a draft of 15 feet 4 inches (4.7 m). The ships' complement consisted of 85 officers and ratings.
The ships had two General Motors 12-278A diesel engines, one shaft. The engines produced a total of 3,600 shaft horsepower (2,700 kW) and gave a maximum speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph). They carried a maximum of 10 tonnes (10 long tons) of fuel oil that gave them a range of 15,000 nmi (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).
The Abnaki class was armed with a 3"/50 caliber gun anti-aircraft gun, two single-mount Oerlikon 20 mm cannon and two twin-gun mounts for Bofors 40 mm gun.
The ship was built at the Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. at Charleston, South Carolina. She was laid down on 2 January 1945 and launched on 7 May 1945. The ship was commissioned on 28 July 1945. She was reclassified ATF-104 on 15 May 1944. [2]
Following shakedown off the east coast, Mosopelea departed Portsmouth Navy Yard, N.H., in early October 1945 with a tow for San Francisco, California. Steaming via the Panama Canal, the tug arrived at San Francisco on 8 November and operated off the California coast until return to Charleston with a tow, 27 January 1946. Moving on to Norfolk, the ship made a voyage to Oran, Algeria, in February, returning via Trinidad, Key West, and Boston, to Norfolk 2 May. From June to September, she made a voyage to Iceland, and then operated out of Norfolk into 1947, departing on 6 January for Bermuda and returning after an extended tow and limited deployment on 23 March.
The fleet tug continued to operate out of Norfolk, making a number of cruises to the Caribbean and gulf coast ports until June 1948, and then departed on the 12th as escort for 11 Turkish naval vessels bound for Gibraltar via Bermuda, returning 21 July.
For the next 16 years, Mosopelea operated out of Norfolk to principal ports on the eastern seaboard, also making frequent cruises to the Caribbean and operating for short intervals at ports in Labrador and Newfoundland. Supplying ships of the fleet with her valuable towing services, the tugboat made numerous extended deployments to San Juan, Mayport and Guantanamo Bay, for months at a time, operating out of those ports on various towing, research, and salvage assignments.
During the Cuban missile crisis of October‑November 1962, the ship operated on standby emergency status, towing Army personnel barges from Charleston to Port Everglades, in preparation for a possible invasion of Cuba. On 15 September 1964, the fleet tug departed Norfolk on her first 6 months deployment with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, becoming the first fleet tug possessing fall salvage and diving capabilities to serve with the 6th Fleet. She operated on extended deployment in the Mediterranean into 1965 and then returned to Norfolk in late winter to resume her previous duties.
Mosopelea continued on her valuable service to the Atlantic Fleet, basing out of Norfolk and performing towing, salvage, and research duties all along the east coast and in the Caribbean into 1969. She underwent overhaul in the fall of 1970 at Norfolk shipyard. Afterward she resumed fleet duties out of Little Creek, VA and Guantanamo.
USS Abnaki (ATF-96) was the lead ship of the Abnaki class of fleet ocean tugs in the service of the United States Navy, named after the Abenaki tribe of Native Americans. She was laid down on 28 November 1942 at Charleston, South Carolina by Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock, launched on 22 April 1943, sponsored by Mrs. James Mayon Jones, and commissioned at the Charleston Navy Yard on 25 November 1943. Abnaki earned three battle stars for service during the Korean War and 10 battle stars during the Vietnam War.
USS Utina (ATF-163) was an Abnaki-class of fleet ocean tug. It was named after Olata Ouae Utina, a leading chief of the now-extinct Utina tribe of Timucua Indians who occupied the territory along the middle reaches of the St. Johns River in Florida near the present-day site of St. Augustine, Florida.
USS Alsea (AT-97) was an Abnaki-class of fleet ocean tug. It was named after the Alsea Native American tribe in Oregon.
USS Atakapa (ATF-149) was an Achomawi class of fleet ocean tug. It was named after the Atakapa Native American tribe that once inhabited territory which is now southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas.
USS Seneca (AT-91) was a Navajo-class fleet tug constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. Her purpose was to aid ships, usually by towing, on the high seas or in combat or post-combat areas, plus "other duties as assigned." She served in the Atlantic Ocean performing various tasks.
USS Luiseno (ATF-156) was an Abnaki-class fleet ocean tug built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after the Luiseño peoples, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
USS Salinan (ATF-161) was an Abnaki-class tug built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after the Salinan peoples, she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name.
USNS Mohawk (T-ATF-170) was a United States Navy Powhatan-class tugboat operated by the Military Sealift Command from 1980 to 2005.
USS Montcalm (AT-39) was a Bagaduce-class fleet tug of the United States Navy. The ship was laid down by the Staten Island Shipbuilding Company of Port Richmond, New York, on 16 June 1919; launched on 26 February 1920; and commissioned at New York Navy Yard on 19 January 1921.
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.
USS Chimariko (ATF-154) was an Abnaki class Fleet Ocean Tug of the United States Navy and the first to be named Chimariko after the Native American tribe in California.
The third USS Kiowa (AT-72), later ATF-72, was a fleet tug, later fleet ocean tug, that served in the United States Navy from 1943 to 1972.
USS Paiute (ATF-159) was an Abnaki-class tug of the United States Navy during World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Persian Gulf War. She served a total of 44 years before being scrapped.
USS Moctobi (ATF-105) was an Abnaki-class of fleet ocean tug. She served in World War II, Vietnam, and Korea, the last two of which she received battle stars. She was scrapped in 2012.
USS Hitchiti (ATF-103) was Abnaki-class tugboat during the World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The ship was later sold to Mexico as ARM Chac (R-55). Her namesake is a tribe of Creek Indians who lived in Florida and Georgia. The word "Hitchiti" means "to look up the stream."
USS Hidatsa (ATF-102) was Abnaki-class tugboat during the World War II. The ship was later sold to Colombia as ARC Rodrigo de Bastidas (RM-74). Her namesake is an Indian group of the Sioux Tribe of North Dakota, now living on the Fort Berthold Reservation.
USS Jicarilla (ATF-104) was Abnaki-class tugboat during the World War II. The ship was later sold to Colombia as ARC Sebastián De Belalcázar (RM-73). Her namesake is a group of the Apache tribe found in the southwestern United States.
USS Shakori (ATF-162) is an Abnaki-class tugboat that saw service during the World War II and Cold War. She was later sold to Republic of China as ROCS Da Tai (ATF-563). Her namesake was a small Indian tribe which originally inhabited an area near the present site of Durham, North Carolina.
USS Tolowa (ATF-116) was Abnaki-class tugboat during the World War II. She was later sold to Venezuela as ARV Felipe Larrazábal (R-11). Her namesake is an Athabascan Native American tribe of northwestern California that formerly occupied the coast from the Klamath River to the Oregon border.
USS Wenatchee (ATF-118) was an Abnaki-class tugboat during the World War II. Her namesake was a tribe of Indians of the Salishan language group, who lived in the area that is now central Washington state, principally around Lake Chelan.