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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Sotoyomo (YTM-9)
ex
 Sotoyomo (YT-9) (1920 - 1944)
 USS Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No.9) (1911 - 1920)
 Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No.9) (1904 - 1911)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Charlie - Zulu
 NECZ
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (retroactive - Pearl Harbor) - World War I Victory Medal - American Defense Service Medal
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
District Harbor Tug:
  • Built by Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA
  • Authorized, 01 July 1902
  • Laid down, 02 March 1903
  • Launched, 20 August 1903
  • Placed in service as Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9), 21 April 1904
  • Assigned to 13th Naval District, 1904-1933
  • Commissioned USS Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9), 01 July 1911
  • Designated District Harbor Tug (YT-9), 17 July 1920
  • Towed to Pearl Harbor by Cuyama (AO-3), June 1933
  • Sotoyomo was at Pearl Harbor, 07 December 1941, drydocked in YFD-2 undergoing overhaul along with
    USS Shaw (DD-373). Sotoyomo was sunk and badly burned by the explosions and fires in Shaw as a
    result of the Japanese attack.
  • Repaired and placed back in service, August 1942
  • Departed Pearl Harbor for duty in the Southwest Pacific, 07 October 1942
  • Stationed at Noumea, New Caledonia, November 1942-April 1944
  • Stationed in Gudalcanal area, April 1944-June 1945
  • Redesignated District Harbor Tug Medium (YTM-9), 15 May 1944
  • Served in Philippines from June 1945
  • Noted in "poor condition" at Leyte, September 1945
  • Placed out of service and scuttled off Leyte, 15 February 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 26 February 1946
  • Sotoyomo earned one battle star for World War II service
    Specifications:
    Displacement 230 tons
    Length 97'
    Beam 21' 11"
    Draft 9' 0"
    Speed 11 1 kts.
    Complement 9
    Armament none
    Propulsion
    one 13" x 32" steam engine
    one coal-fired single ended cylindrical boiler,
    single propeller 450shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Pawtucket 1234k Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9) underway in the Mare Island Channel, circa 1904-05.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo    		 Darryl Baker
    Pawtucket 68k Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9) moored outboard of Pawtucket (Harbor Tug No. 7) at Navy Yard Mare Island, circa 1905.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo    		 Darryl Baker
    Sotoyomo 88k Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9) at Mare Island, circa 1906.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo    		 Darryl Baker
    Sotoyomo 43k Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9) underway off Mare Island, circa 1909.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo    		 Darryl Baker
    Sotoyomo 71k USS Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9) moored pierside, circa 1915, place unknown.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo    		 Darryl Baker
    Sotoyomo 122k USS Sotoyomo (Harbor Tug No. 9) underway in the Mare Island channel, circa 1915.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo    		 Darryl Baker
    Sotoyomo 137k Sotoyomo (YT-9) moored at Puget Sound Navy Yard, 17 March 1921.
    Naval History & Heritage Command photo NH 634, Collection of Rear Admiral Ammen Farenholt, MC USN     		Mike Green
    Sotoyomo 89k Sotoyomo (YT-9) crew photo circa 1930.
    Navy Yard Mare Island photo    		 Darryl Baker
    Pawtucket 144k Sotoyomo (YT-9) May 5, 1942 being repaired by Mobile Salvage Unit in Dry Dock 2, Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 5 May 1942. Sotoyomo was in the Dry Dock with USS California (BB-44), which is also being repaired and is located astern of the tug. Sotoyomo was undergoing overhaul along with USS Shaw (DD-373) in the floating dry dock YFD-2 at the time of the Japanese attack. She was sunk by the explosions and fires in Shaw.
    A National Archives photo from "RESURRECTION: Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor" by Daniel Madsen.    		 Mike Green
    BB-44 California 45k Sotoyomo (YT-9) in the Dry Dock at Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 7 June 1942, just prior to the undocking of USS California (BB-44) is beginning.
    Seattle NARA photo # 1615-42. Record Group 181, 13th Naval District, Records of the Naval District & Shore Establishments.
    		Photo courtesy of Tracy White @ Researcher @ Large.
    Sotoyomo (YT-9) / YTM-9)
    DANFS history entry located at the US Naval History and Heritage Command
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Yard and District Craft Photo Index Back To The District Harbor Tug (YT) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 09 September 2016