USS Atakapa (ATF-149)
USS Atakapa (ATF-149) was an
Abnaki-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.
The fleet ocean tug (ATF-149) was laid down on
17 February 1944 at
Charleston, South Carolina, by the
Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Company; launched on
11 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. B.H. Wiggs; and commissioned at the
Charleston Navy Yard on
8 December 1944.
After shakedown in the
Norfolk, Virginia area,
Atakapa undertook her first assignment, a tow from the
East Coast to
California, departing
Philadelphia on
22 January 1945 and reaching
San Francisco on
8 March. From that day through
27 April, she engaged in routine towing operations along the
West Coast. The ship sailed for
Hawaii on the 27th and, upon her arrival at
Pearl Harbor on
10 May, resumed her towing operations. This duty was interrupted by a long tow from Pearl Harbor to
Eniwetok, which began on 20 June. After reaching Eniwetok on
10 July,
Atakapa left three days later bound for
Johnston Island where she took two craft in tow and proceeded back to Pearl Harbor which she reached on
26 July.
Atakapa engaged in towing and salvage operations until
11 August when she departed the Hawaiian Islands bound for the
Aleutians. The tug reached
Adak on
22 August, a week after
Japan capitulated. The units gathered there formed Task Force (TF) 42 and sailed on
1 September for
Ominato, Japan. They reached Japan on
13 September, and
Atakapa served in Japanese waters into April 1946.
The tug returned to Pearl Harbor on
23 April for repairs before heading for the United States late in May. She transited the
Panama Canal on
14 June and reached
Jacksonville, Florida, on the 25th. The ship reported to
Orange, Texas, on
21 August for duty and ultimate transfer to the inactive fleet. She was placed out of commission, in reserve, on
8 November 1946.
Atakapa was recommissioned at Orange on
9 August 1951, slightly over a year after
Communist forces invaded
South Korea. She held shakedown training at
Newport, Rhode Island, and Norfolk, Virginia, and made the first major tow of her new career in February 1952, when she pulled a large vessel from
Panama to Philadelphia. From April to July,
Atakapa was stationed at
Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, and devoted herself largely to target towing. The vessel returned to Norfolk in July and spent the remainder of the year providing general towing and salvage services in the Norfolk area and along the East Coast.
For the next five and one-half years,
Atakapa maintained a busy schedule of towing and salvage operations. She visited ports along the East Coast, in the
Caribbean, and along the
Gulf Coast.
On
23 July 1958, the tug began her first
Mediterranean deployment in response to internal disorder in
Lebanon. While operating with the
6th Fleet, she provided towing and salvage services and made port calls at
Suda Bay,
Crete;
Beirut, Lebanon;
Athens and
Rhodes, Greece; and
Catania,
Sicily. Before returning to the United States,
Atakapa towed a ship through the
Suez Canal from
Massawa,
Ethiopia, to
Naples,
Italy.
The small ship spent 1959 and 1960 providing general services to East Coast ships. In early 1961, she spent six weeks in Puerto Rico participating in Operation "Springboard" and then crossed the
Atlantic in May and June with a tow from
Mayport, Florida, to
Holy Loch,
Scotland.
Atakapa began 1962 in upkeep at
Little Creek, Virginia, but soon sailed for the Caribbean to take part in Operation "Springboard 62." She provided towing and target retrieval service for units serving at Guantanamo Bay.
Atakapa returned to Norfolk in June for a tender availability. Upon its completion, she provided services for
submarines operating out of Norfolk. In October, the tug reported for duty in the Caribbean in response to the
Cuban Missile Crisis but returned home when tension subsided and ended the year at Little Creek.
On
4 January 1963, the ship sailed to
San Juan, Puerto Rico, to take part in Operation "Springboard" for the third straight year, but was back in Little Creek on
7 February for a short availability. During March and April,
Atakapa received an overhaul. After two months of refresher training, she put to sea in early October, bound for Guantanamo Bay. The tug returned to Little Creek in late November and finished the year in upkeep.
For the first few months of 1964,
Atakapa operated in the Norfolk area. In June, she proceeded to
Rota,
Spain, with
ARDM-1 in tow. After releasing the medium auxiliary repair
dry dock, she remained deployed with the 6th Fleet for four months. The tug got underway in October to return to the United States, but was diverted en route to escort an
LST to
Bermuda and thence to Norfolk. They arrived in
Hampton Roads on
17 November, and
Atakapa spent the rest of the year undergoing a tender availability.
After a brief period of local operations,
Atakapa sailed in early 1965 to the Caribbean to participate in Operation "Springboard." Early in April, she returned to the Norfolk area for an overhaul at the
Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Company. Upon completing the yard period, the tug resumed operations in the
Virginia Capes area. Late in the year, she operated briefly at Guantanamo Bay and, after visiting
Ocho Rios,
Jamaica, returned to Little Creek.
The ship's first major activity of 1967 was once again Operation "Springboard" in which she participated from 6 to
19 March. The tug entered restricted availability at Norfolk on
23 April and, soon after it ended, began a deployment to northern
Europe on
15 May. She operated in the
Norwegian Sea and visited ports in
Norway,
Scotland, and the
Netherlands before returning to Little Creek on
1 October. She operated in the Virginia Capes area through the end of the year and into May 1967. On the 19th of that month, the tug got underway for Scotland, reached Holy Loch on
30 May, and on
6 June was underway again for Rota. She operated in the Mediterranean until late September and visited the ports of Suda Bay, Crete;
Valletta,
Malta; Naples, Italy;
Izmir,
Turkey; and
Palma de Mallorca.
Atakapa touched back at Little Creek on
29 September; completed a period of leave and upkeep: and, on
27 November, entered overhaul at the Norfolk Shipbuilding & Drydock Company.
The overhaul was completed in mid-April 1968, and the vessel began refresher training. On
13 June, she got underway for operations in European waters and made port calls in Spain,
England, Italy,
Greece, and Crete. The tug left Rota on
12 October; returned to Little Creek on the 22d; and, on
17 December, began an availability alongside
USS Vulcan (AR-5).
On
25 February 1969,
Atakapa shifted to Little Creek for upkeep. On
15 April, she was deployed to western Europe. She made port calls at
Rosyth and Holy Loch, Scotland;
Bergen, Norway;
Aalburg,
Denmark; and
Portsmouth, England. She departed Rota on
24 September and reached Little Creek on
7 October.
Late in January 1970, she sailed for
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to tow a ship back to Little Creek. She was deployed to Guantanamo Bay on
13 May to provide target services for warships undergoing gunnery practice. The ship left Cuba on
12 June and next towed a ship from Mayport, Florida, to Philadelphia. On
25 June, the tug was back in the Virginia Capes area. Routine towing duties to various ports along the East Coast occupied her until
16 October, when she sailed for
Baltimore, Maryland, for hull repairs. On
27 October, she shifted back to a shipyard in
Newport News, Virginia, for the remainder of the overhaul.
Refresher training and upkeep lasted until late in March 1971. Atakapa made a brief voyage to
St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, then returned to Little Creek on
9 April. She was involved in routine towing operations along the East Coast until
11 November when she sailed for Guantanamo Bay. The tug returned to Little Creek on
21 December for the holidays.
After one and one-half months of training,
Atakapa deployed to
Roosevelt Roads,
Puerto Rico, on
16 February 1972. She provided target services for units participating in Operation "Springboard," but was back in home port on
23 March. On
1 May, the tug towed
USS Cache (AO-67) to
Beaumont, Texas, and then pulled a vessel from that gulf port back to Norfolk, arriving there on
16 May. Local operations and availability occupied
Atakapa through
21 July, when she got underway for Guantanamo Bay. She operated from that Cuban port for the next five weeks and then returned to Little Creek on
30 August for local operations through the rest of the year and the first months of 1973. On
11 April,
Atakapa sailed for Guantanamo Bay, but was back in the Virginia Capes area on
15 May. Another Caribbean deployment occurred from
28 June to
9 August. After her return home, the tug operated along the East Coast.
In early 1974, Atakapa sailed for the Caribbean for the annual "Springboard" operations. She operated along the East Coast for the last few months of her career as a commissioned Navy ship. On
1 July 1974, the tug was decommissioned and turned over to the
Military Sealift Command (MSC). Operating with a civil service crew, USNS
Atakapa (T-ATF-149) continued to support the Navy carrying out MSC missions for another seven years. During the summer of 1981, she was taken out of service and prepared for transfer to the
Maritime Administration's
National Defense Reserve Fleet. In September 1981,
Atakapa â€" still Navy property â€" was berthed at the Maritime Administration facility at
James River, Virginia. On
25 August 2000, she was disposed of in support of a fleet training exercise.
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NavSource Online: AT-149 / ATF-149 Atakapa*
Atakapa crew site
