USS Navajo (ATA-211)

History
United States
Name	USS Navajo
Ordered	as Rescue Ocean Tug ATR-138, redesignated Auxiliary Fleet Tug ATA-211, 13 April 1944
Builder	Gulfport Boiler and Welding Works, Port Arthur, Texas
Laid down	20 January 1945
Launched	3 March 1945
Commissioned	3 May 1945
Decommissioned	10 April 1962
Renamed	Navajo (ATA-211), 15 July 1948
Stricken	1 May 1962
Identification	IMO number: 6607630; MMSI number: 334464000; Callsign: HQWV8;
Fate	Sold in 1963; Active as commercial vessel;
General characteristics
Class and type	Sotoyomo-class auxiliary fleet tug
Displacement	534 long tons (543 t) light; 835 long tons (848 t) full;
Length	143 ft (44 m)
Beam	33 ft (10 m)
Draft	13 ft (4.0 m)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric engines, single screw
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	45
Armament	1 × single 3"/50 caliber gun; 2 × single 20 mm AA gun mounts;

USS Navajo (ATR-138/ATA-211) was an auxiliary ocean tug in the United States Navy.

Originally designated ATR–138, she was redesignated ATA–211 on 13 April 1944 and laid down on 20 January 1945 by Gulfport Boiler & Welding Works, Port Arthur, Texas. Launched on 3 March 1945, and commissioned at Port Arthur on 3 May 1945, Lieutenant James McKnight in command.

Pacific Theatre operations[]

Following fitting out and shakedown off Galveston, ATA–211 reported to the Naval Supply Depot, Gulfport, Mississippi, on 5 June, and thence steamed via the Panama Canal to San Diego, where she was to join ServRon 2, Pacific.

ATA–211 towed AFL–23 and harbor tug YT–742 to Pearl Harbor in July and remained there to perform ready tug duty and relief towing services with the Waipie Salvage Dock, in the ocean operations off Pearl Harbor. In October, she cleared Pearl Harbor with fuel oil barge YO–12 and garbage lighter YG–28 in tow, and headed for Yokosuka, Japan, where she arrived the 24th. Departing Yokosuka in early November, she returned Pearl Harbor and, joined by fleet ocean tug and auxiliary floating dry dock , steamed to San Diego. She departed this base on 27 December to serve as retriever tug for ATF–157.^{[citation needed]}

East Coast operations[]

After escorting ATF–157 through the Panama Canal, ATA–211 cleared Coco Solo on 5 February 1946 and touched at Key West before arriving at the U.S. Naval Station, Algiers, Louisiana, 11 February. She remained in the 8th Naval District for most of the remainder of her Naval career, providing towing service to ports such as Mobile, Galveston, Pensacola, and Charleston, and assisting in off-shore salvage operations.

Decommissioning[]

ATA–211 was named Navajo on 15 July 1948. She continued operations off the Gulf states and Bermuda into 1962. Decommissioning on 10 April 1962, she was stricken from the Navy List on 1 May 1962 and was subsequently sold to Twenty Grand Marine Service, Inc., Morgan City, Louisiana, in 1963.

As of 2016, ATA-211 remained in commercial service, operating in Honduras under the name Hyperion.

References[]

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

External links[]

Photo gallery of USS Navajo (ATA-211) at NavSource Naval History
Utah History Encyclopedia