USS Nokomis (YT-142)


USS Nokomis, one of the tugs assisting USS Fulton (AS-11) to enter Pearl Harbor after the Battle of Midway.
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

Built in Bremerton, Washington

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.

World War II service

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.

Post-war service

Reclassified YTB–142, in 1944, she has remained active as a service craft based at Pearl Harbor into the 1970s.

Final decommissioning

Nokomis was decommissioned and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in May 1973 and sold in April 1975.

Current status

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]

See also

References

  1. ^ Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society - USS Nokomis page