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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive
Contributed Mike Smolinski

USS Abnaki (ATF-96)
ex
 USS Abnaki (AT-96) (1943 - 1944)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Uniform - Tango - November
NUTN
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons





Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation (2)- China Service Medal (extended)
Second Row - American Campaign Service Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, - World War II Victory Medal
Third Row - Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) - National Defense Service Medal (2) - Korean Service Medal (3)
Fourth Row - Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Vietnam, 1-Op. Frequent Wind) - Vietnam Service Medal (6) - Humanitarian Service Medal
Fifth Row - United Nations Service Medal - Republic of Vietnam Combat Medal - Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

USS Abnaki (ATF-96) was transferred to Mexico, renamed ARM Yaqui (A18)
Abnaki Class Fleet Ocean Tug:
  • Laid down, 28 November 1942, as Fleet Tug (AT-96) at Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Charleston, S.C.
  • Launched, 22 April 1943
  • Commissioned, USS Abnaki (AT-96), 15 November 1943, LT. Dewey Walley in command
  • Reclassified as Fleet Ocean Tug (ATF-96), 15 May 1944
  • During World War II USS Abnaki was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater
  • During the Korean War USS Abnaki participated in the following campaigns:
    Korean War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Communist China Spring Offensive
    6 to 8 July 1951     		Second Korean Winter
    28 November to 1 December 1951
    24 December 1951 to 20 January 1952
    UN Summer-Fall Offensive
    9 to 19 July 1951
    8 to 13 September 19
    10 to 27 November 1951     		.

  • During the Vietnam War USS Abnaki participated in the following campaigns:
    Vietnam War Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates Campaign and Dates
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive
    21 May to 24 June 1966     		Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII
    21 to 24 May 1971
    24 to 28 June 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II
    25 August to 26 September 1966
    25 to 30 October 1966     		Consolidation I
    20 and 30 t o31 July 1971
    3 to 5 and 15 to 17 August 1971
    Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase III
    15 September to 17 October 1967
    19 to 24 October 1967
    27 November 1967 to 1 January 1968     		Vietnam Ceasefire
    5 to 29 October 1972
    23 November to 2 December 1972
    20 to 31 December 1972

  • Sold under the Security Assistance Program to Mexico, 1 September 1978
  • Decommissioned, stuck from the Naval Register and transferred to Mexico, 30 September 1978
  • Commissioned into the Mexican Navy as ARM Yaqui (A-18), Lt. Guttierez in command
  • Renamed ARM A. H. Ehecati (A-53), date unknown
  • Name changed back to ARM Yaqui (ARE-02), date unknown
  • Current Disposition, active in Republic of Mexico Navy
  • USS Abnaki earned three battle stars for Korean War service and six campaign stars during Vietnam War service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 1,205 t.(lt) 1,646 t.(fl)
    Length 205'
    Beam 39'
    Draft 17' (max)
    Speed 16 kts.
    Complement 8 Officers, 68 Enlisted
    Armament
    one single 3"/50 dual purpose gun mount
    two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
    two single 20mm AA gun mounts
    Propulsion diesel-electric, four ALCO diesel main engines driving four General Electric generators and three Cooper- Besmear auxiliary services engines, single screw, 3,600shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Contributed
    By
    USS Abnaki (AT-96)
    Abnaki 17k USS Abnaki (AT-96) underway, circa 1940s Submitted by Carl C. Murdock to National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Abnaki 1349k USS Abnaki (AT-96) with a tow along the east coast, 12 February 1944. Joseph Colombara
    USS Abnaki (ATF-96)
    Abnaki 1372k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) with the captured German submarine U505 in tow, 7 June 1944. Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery's Task Group (TG) 22.3 built around USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60) had just succeeded in capturing the German submarine raider, and Abnaki was tasked to tow her to Bermuda. She arrived there with the prize on 19 June and remained 10 days before shaping a course for New York.
    US Navy photos    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 61k
    Abnaki 655k
    Abnaki 1390k
    Abnaki 207k
    Abnaki 220k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) towing the German Navy U505 taken from USS Guadalcanal (CVE-60). Left to right; unknown, Bos'n Schroeder and CDR. Jesse C. Johnson USN, 4 June 1944.
    US Navy photo from the Photographic Library Bureau of Aeronautics.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 321k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway in 1944, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 73k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway off the Azores, in December 1944. Abnaki carried salvage divers from USS Weight (ARS-35) to perform temporary repairs to USS Fogg (DE-57). (While escorting a homeward bound convoy Fogg was torpedoed, 20 December 1944.) Photo by Frank Kocourek, ME1, USN Salvage Diver, USS Weight 1943-45. Submitted by his son Peter Kocourek
    Weight 54k Torpedoed USS Fogg (DE-57) with USS Abnaki (ATF-98) standing by, December 1944. Photo by Frank Kocourek, ME1, USN Salvage Diver, USS Weight 1943-45. Submitted by his son Peter Kocourek
    Weight 85k USS Weight (ARS-35) salvage crew leaving USS Abnaki (ATF-96) to assist USS Fogg (DE-57) Photo by Frank Kocourek, ME1, USN Salvage Diver, USS Weight 1943-45. Submitted by his son Peter Kocourek
    Abnaki 51k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) steams into Pearl Harbor after months of towing and buoy-planting in the Korean waters.
    US Navy photo from "All Hands" magazine, issue dated May 1947    		 Joe Radigan MACM USN Ret.
    Abnaki 1209k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway in Sinclair Inlet, Puget Sound, WA., 15 July 1947.
    US Navy Yard Puget Sound photos.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 942k
    Abnaki 454k
    Abnaki 699k
    Abnaki 776k
    Abnaki 906k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway at Pearl Harbor, circa 1950s.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1496k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) and USS Current (ARS-22) underway off the Hawaiian Islands, 22 November 1953.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1046k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) moored pierside Pier 3 Attu, AK, June 1953. Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 957k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) crew photo Fall 1954 at Pearl Harbor, HI. Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1358k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway at either Pearl Harbor, Midway or Johnson Island, 10 December 1956.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1341k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway in 1957, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 960k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) moored pierside at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, 21 June 1958.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1303k Painting of USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway with a tow in rough seas. By CAPT. Stanislaus J. Sowinsky, 1960 - 1962. Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 352k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway off Oahu Island, HI., 15 November 1962.
    US Navy photos.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1615k
    Abnaki 272k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway, date and location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 47k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway, date and location unknown. Submitted by Emmett Firmin to National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Abnaki 98k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway, date and location unknown Submitted by Emmett Firmin to National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Abnaki 716k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) moored pierside, date and location unknown. Joseph Colombara
    Abnaki 609k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway in the Western Pacific, 1 June 1965.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1420k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway in 1966, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 958k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway, 1 May 1967, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1044k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) keeps the Soviet trawler Gidrofon under surveillance in the South China Sea, December 1967.
    US Navy photo # K-43379 by PHC Neal Crowe, now in the collections of the US Naval Historical Center.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 48k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway, at Pearl Harbor, HI, 22 February 1968. Submitted by Emmett Firmin to National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Abnaki 576k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway off Hawaii with an "Apollo" space capsule loaded on her aft deck, 12 January 1971
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 41k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway, date and location unknown. Submitted by S. Thomas to National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Abnaki 578k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) underway in 1972, location unknown.
    US Navy photo.    		 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 952k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) towing with chain at the end of the tow cable. Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 1246k
    Abnaki 1238k View of USS Abnaki (ATF-96) cable chafing gear at stern roller. Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 512k USS Abnaki (ATF-96) decommissioning and transfer to Mexico, 30 September 1978. Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    Abnaki 585k USS Cocopa (ATF-101) (left) and USS Abnaki (ATF-96) (right) during their decommissioning and transfer to Mexico, 30 September 1978 Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    ARM A.H. Ehecati (A-53)
    Abnaki 25k Ex-Abnaki (ATF-96) in Mexican service
    as ARM A. H. Ehecati (A-53), moored, 1996    		 National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Abnaki 42k ARM A. H. Ehecati (A-53) underway, date and location unknown. Hans van der Ster
    Abnaki 301k ARM A. H. Ehecati (A-53) in Port Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico in 1997. Joseph Colombara USS Abnaki
    USS Abnaki Additional Ships Patches
    Juneau
    Contributed by Art Ramierz via NAFTS    		 Juneau
    Adapted in 1962
    Contributed by Joseph Colombara
    View the USS Abnaki (ATF-96)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval Historical Center
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Fleet Reserve Association
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    USS Abnaki (ATF-96)
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
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    Last Updated 29 May 2009