USS Watseka (YT-387)
USS Watseka (YTM-387) was a medium harbor tug of the YTM-192 class in the service of the United States Navy during World War II. She may be one of the Naval vessels named for a woman since Watseka was the name of a Potawatomi woman. However, the Naval Historical Center lists the namesake as: "Possibly a variant spelling of Watsaghika, a former village of the Iruwaitsu Shasta Indian tribe of northern California, at the extreme west end of Scott Valley."[1]
| History | |
|---|---|
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| Name: | USS Watseka |
| Acquired: | by purchase, 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | March 1946 |
| Reclassified: | YTM-387, 15 May 1944 |
| Fate: | Sold, 1 July 1972 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Tugboat |
| Length: | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Beam: | 25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Draft: | 10 ft (3.0 m) |
Watseka was purchased in 1943 from Ira S. Bushey and Sons of Brooklyn, New York, and assigned to the 8th Naval District, New Orleans, Louisiana, as YT-387. On 15 May 1944, her designation was changed from YT-387 to YTB-387. While in reserve, she was redesignated YTM-387, in February 1962.[1]
Placed in reserve, out of service, and berthed with the Columbia River, Oregon, group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet from March 1946, she was subsequently sold on 1 July 1972. As a civilian tug, she operated under the names Deborah W, Beaver, Seahorse,[2] SB IX, Seahorse, Glen Cove.[3]
References
- "Watseka". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
- "Harbor Tugs". Harbor Tugs. NAFTS. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
- "U.S. Shipbuilding History, Shipbuilding records, Tim Colton", Shipbuilding History website.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.