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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Navigator (ATA-203)
ex
 USS ATA-203 (1944 - 1948)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - India - Lima - Echo
 NILE
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - American Campaign Medal
Bottom Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (2) - World War II Victory Medal - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp
Sotoyomo Class Auxiliary Fleet Tug
  • Authorized as Rescue Ocean Tug (ATR-130)
  • Reclassified Auxiliary Fleet Tug (ATA-203), 15 May 1944
  • Laid down, 10 September 1944 at Gulfport Shipbuilding, Corp., Gulfport, MS.
  • Launched, 26 October 1944
  • Commissioned, USS ATA-203, 1 January 1945, LT. Joseph E. Fuld Jr., USNR in command
  • During World War II ATA-203 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Okinawa Gunto operation
    Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto, 21 May to 10 June 1945     		Minesweeping Pacific
    Fukuoka (Kyushu-Korea Area), 9 to 27 December 1945
    "Klondike" (East China Sea - Ryukyus Area), 21 to 31 October 1945

  • Following World War II USS ATA-203 was assigned to Occupation service in the Far East from 2 September 1945 to 14 March 1946
  • Decommissioned, 20 October 1946
  • Laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Texas Group, Orange, TX.
  • Named USS Navigator (ATA-203), 16 July 1948
  • Custody transferred to the Maritime Administration,16 July 1948, for lay up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, AL.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 1 September 1962
  • Final Disposition, disposed of as a target or by test
    Specifications:
    Displacement 835 t.(lt) 1,360 t.(fl)
    Length 143'
    Beam 33' 10"
    Draft 13' 2" (limiting)
    Speed 12 kts.
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
    two single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Largest Boom Capacity 5 t.
    Complement
    Officers 5
    Enlisted 40
    Fuel Capacity
    Diesel 1,200 Bbls
    Propulsion
    two GM 12-278A Diesel-electric engines
    single Fairbanks Morse Main Reduction Gear
    Ship's Service Generators
    two 60Kw 120V. D.C.
    single propeller, 1,200shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    ATA-203/ATA-193 71k USS ATA-193 and USS ATA-203 moored at Naval Reserve Base, New Orleans, 30 June 1946. ATA-203 has just completed her journey towing YFD-15 from Pearl Harbor to New Orleans via San Diego and the Panama Canal Richard W. Friedrich, F/1c, LSM-467, Collection, slide number 219
    USS Navigator (ATA-203)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Fuld Jr., Joseph E., USNR1 January 1945 - December 1945
    02LCDR. Horton John Samuel, USNRDecember 1945 - March 1946
    03LTjg. Decker, Vernon Edward, USNMarch 1946 - 20 October 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    USS ATA-203 Pearl Harbor to New Orleans, May-June 1946
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Rescue Ocean Tug (ATR) Photo Index Back To The Auxiliary Fleet Tug (ATA) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 10 July 2020