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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Patch at left contributed by Don McGrogan BMCS, USN (Ret.) - Popular Patch Patch at right contributed by Mike Smolinski

Contributed by Al Grazevich

USS Apache (ATF-67)
ex
 USS Apache (AT-67) (1942 - 1944)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Delta - Bravo
 NUDB
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons





Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive)
Second Row - Navy Unit Commendation (2) - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation - American Campaign Medal
Third Row - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6) - World War II Victory Medal - National Defense Service Medal (2)
Fourth Row - Korean Service Medal (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Taiwan) - Vietnam Service Medal (1)
Fifth Row - Philippines Liberation Medal (2) - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)
Personnel Awards

Purple Heart (3-WIA 5 January 1945 - Luzon)

USS Apache (ATF-67) was transferred to the Republic of China and renamed ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551)
Navajo Class Fleet Ocean Tug:
  • Laid down, 8 November 1941, as Fleet Tug (AT-67) at Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Charleston, S.C.
  • Launched, 8 May 1942
  • Commissioned, USS Apache (AT-67), 12 December 1942, LTjg. Clyde S. Horner USN, in command
  • Reclassified Fleet Ocean Tug (ATF-67), 15 May 1944
  • During WWII USS Apache was assigned to Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaigns:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Treasury-Bougainville operation
    Treasury Island landing, 27 October 1943
    Occupation and defense of Cape Torokina, 1, 6, and 8 November 1943     		Marianas operation
    Capture and occupation of Saipan, 17 to 19 July 1944
    Capture and occupation of Guam, 21 July to 2 August 1944
    Consolidation of Solomon Islands
    Consolidation of northern Solomon Islands, December 1943 to March 1944     		Leyte operation
    Leyte landings, 13 October to 29 November 1944
    Bismarck Archipelago operation
    Emirau Island, 17 March 1944     		Luzon operation
    Lingayen Gulf landings, 4 to 18 January 1945

  • Decommissioned, 3 December 1946
  • Laid up in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Columbia River Group
  • Recommissioned, 20 July 1951
  • During the Korean War USS Apache participated in the following campaigns:

    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Second Korean Winter
    19 December 1951 to 4 January 1952
    19 January to 18 February 1952
    20 March to 13 April 1952
    26 to28 April 1952     		Korean Defense Summer-Fall 1952
    9 to 12 May 1952
    16 to 28 June 1952

  • During the Vietnam War USS Apache participated in the following campaign:

    Vietnam War Campaign
    Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    4 January to 6 February 1966
    3 to 5 March 1966
  • Decommissioned, 24 February 1974
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 30 March 1974
  • USS Apache earned six battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation for service in Salvage, Fire Fighting, and Rescue Unit, Service Force, 7th Fleet - Philippine Islands area, 6 January to 15 February 1945, two battle stars for Korean service and one campaign star, the Navy Unit Commendation, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation for Vietnam War service
  • Sold under the Security Assistance Program to the Republic of China, 1 June 1974, renamed Ta Wan
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,235 t.(lt) 1,675 t.(fl)
    Length 205'
    Beam 38' 6"
    Draft 15' 4"
    Speed 16.5 kts (trial)
    Complement
    Officers 5
    Enlisted 80
    Largest Boom Capacity 20 t.
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 cal dual purpose gun mount
    two single 40mm AA gun mounts
    two single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Fuel Capacity Diesel 2,265 Bbls
    Propulsion
    four General Motors 12-278 Diesel-electric main engines
    single Fairbanks Morse Main Reduction Gears
    Ship's Service Generators
    two 100Kw 120V D.C.
    one 60Kw 120V D.C.
    three General Motors 3-268A auxiliary services engines
    single propeller, 3,000shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Apache (ATF-67)
    Arapaho 1208k USS Arapaho (AT-68) (left) and USS Apache (AT-67) (right) fitting out at Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Co, Charleston S.C., July 1942.
    US National Archives photo # 19-N-55163 a US Navy Bureau of Ships photo now in the collections of the US National Archives.    		 Alan Owens
    Apache 81k USS Apache (ATF-67) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Apache 31k USS Apache (ATF-67) underway in 1955, location unknown. Submitted by Joe Hubbard
    to NAFTS
    National Association
    of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Apache 42k USS Apache (ATF-67) underway off the coast of southern California, 31 August 1964.
    US Navy photo by PH2 Lindberg.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Apache 44k USS Apache (ATF-67) underway, circa 1970-1971 Submitted by Bob Hallmark
    to NAFTS
    National Association
    of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Apache 107k USS Apache (ATF-67) and White Sands (ARD-20) moored at either Naval Station Rodman or Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, circa 28 February 1969. Apache and White Sands, with the deep submergence vehicle Trieste on board, where enroute to an area near the Azores to search for the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) which was lost in May 1968. Apache towed White Sands which was the support ship for the deep submergence vehicle Trieste which searched for the missing Scorpion. Gary Ragsdale, EN3/2class Diver USS Apache
    Apache 107k USS Apache (ATF-67) in August 1972 while assigned as the permanent tow ship for White Sands (ARD-20), which carried the bathyscaph Trieste. The three vessels together were called the "Integral Operating Unit" (IOU) and were based at San Diego, CA.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, photo # USN 1153273, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    Apache 294k USS Apache (ATF-67) towing White Sands (ARD-20) circa 1972
    U.S. Navy photo from "All Hands" Magazine August 1973. p 37    		 Robert Hurst
    Apache 56k USS Apache (ATF-67) underway off San Diego, CA., in 1973. Gary P. Ragsdale EN3/Second Class Diver USS Apache 1972-73
    ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551)
    Apache 76k Ex-Apache (ATF-67) in the Republic of China service as ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) moored pierside, at Keelung Harbor, Taiwan, 16 March 2006. Photo by Perry Huang
    Apache 82k ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) moored pierside, at Keelung Harbor, Taiwan, 16 March 2006. Photo by Perry Huang
    Apache 129k ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) getting underway at Keelung Harbor, Taiwan, 16 March 2006. Photo by Perry Huang
    Apache 72k ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) underway departing Keelung Harbor, Taiwan, 16 March 2006. Photo by Perry Huang
    Apache
    093906718    		 255k ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) underway February 2020.
    Photo by Cheng Yang, courtesy Cheng Yang Photography    		 Chi Yu Chu/font>
    Apache
    093906717    		 556k ROCS Ta Wan (ATF-551) underway March 2020.
    Photo by Cheng Yang, courtesy Cheng Yang Photography    		 Chi Yu Chu/font>
    USS Apache (ATF-67)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LTjg. Horner, Clyde Stuart, USN12 December 1942 - 1 April 1945
    02LT. Larson, Arnold Leonard (Liberty), USN1 April 1945 - 8 September 1945
    03LT. Skjei, Sidney Minard, USN8 September 1945 - 3 December 1946
     Decommissioned3 December 1946 - 20 July 1951
    04LT. Gauthier, Robert Henry, USN (USNA 1946)1954
    05LCDR. Guna, Andrew, USN1956 - 6 July 1957
    06LT. Morris, Charles William, USN 6 July 1957 - 1959
    07LT. Hull, George Thomas, USN (USN 1952)1959 - 3 July 1961
    08LT. Snider, Lloyd Harth, USN (USNA 1954)3 July 1961 - 24 June 1963
    09LT. West, Charles Thomas, USN24 June 1963 - 25 March 1965
    10LT. Brining, George, USN25 March 1965 - 17 October 1967
    11LT. Lonnon, Lawrence, Walter, USN17 October 1967 - February 1970
    12LCDR. Blevins, Luther, USNFebruary 1970 - 1972
    13LT. Barker, Michael Don, USN1972 - 1973
    14LCDR Howick, James Francis, USN1973 - 24 February 1974
    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
    USS Apache (ATF-30) Memorabilia
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
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    Last Updated 2 April 2021