USS Nokomis, one of the tugs assisting USS Fulton (AS-11) to enter Pearl Harbor after the Battle of Midway. |
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| Career (USA) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Nokomis |
| Namesake: | Grandmother and nurse of Hiawatha |
| Builder: | Puget Sound Navy Yard, Washington |
| Laid down: | date unknown |
| Launched: | 29 November 1939 |
| Completed: | March 1940 |
| Commissioned: | March 1940 |
| Decommissioned: | c. 1973 |
| Reclassified: | YTB-142 in May 1944 and YTM-142 in February 1962 |
| Struck: | May 1973 |
| Homeport: | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
| Honors and awards: |
one battle star for World War II service |
| Fate: | sold for scrapping, 1 September 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Woban-class |
| Type: | District Harbor Tug |
| Displacement: | 218 tons |
| Length: | 100’ 10” |
| Beam: | 25’ |
| Draft: | 9’ 7” |
| Propulsion: | Diesel electric, single screw |
| Speed: | 12 knots |
| Complement: | 8 crew members |
| Armament: | not known |
USS Nokomis (YT-142/YTB-142/YTM-142) was a Woban-class district harbor tug built in Bremerton, Washington, and assigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1940. Nokomis was present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and continued serving the fleet throughout the war. Post-war she continued serving Pearl Harbor ships until she was decommissioned in May 1973, and eventually sold for scrap.
Contents |
Nokomis (YT–142), a diesel electric tug, was built at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington; launched 29 November 1939; completed in March 1940; and allocated to the 14th Naval District for duty.
Upon arrival Pearl Harbor, Nokomis assumed the duty of providing towing and berthing services, and was available for waterfront fire protection and inner harbor security.
Reclassified YTB–142, in 1944, she has remained active as a service craft based at Pearl Harbor into the 1970s.
Nokomis was decommissioned and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in May 1973 and sold in April 1975.
According to the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society, the Nokomis was purchased in April 1975 by Crowley Maritime Corporation, and her name was changed to Sea Serpent. She was operated in the San Francisco Bay as a commercial tugboat to assist docking vessels. The company terminated their operations in the San Francisco area in the mid 1990s and the Nokomis was abandoned in a derelict condition.
Rediscovered in mid 2002, the Nokomis is now in the care of the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society.[1]