USS ''Namontack'' (YN-46/YNT-14/YTB-738) was built in 1938 as the ''Thomas E. Moran'' by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company, Bay City, Michigan, for the Moran Towing and Transportation Company, New York City. The name "Namontack" comes from a Native American sent, in 1608VAUGHAN, ALDEN T. “Namontack's Itinerant Life and Mysterious Death: Sources and Speculations.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, vol. 126, no. 2, 2018, pp. 170–209. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/26431964. Accessed 31 July 2024., by Chief Powhatan to live with English settlers in

Tidewater, Virginia Tidewater refers to the north Atlantic coastal plain region of the United States of America. Definition Culturally, the Tidewater region usually includes the low-lying plains of southeast Virginia, northeastern North Carolina, southern Maryl ...

, and gain knowledge of their customs and language.

Christopher Newport Christopher Newport (1561–1617) was an English seaman and privateer. He is best known as the captain of the ''Susan Constant'', the largest of three ships which carried settlers for the Virginia Company in 1607 on the way to found the settle ...

took him to England on 10 April 1608 to meet the Virginia Company's investors. Namontack remained there for three months and returned to Virginia.

Construction and design

She was built by DeFoe Shipbuilding Company in Bay City, Michigan as the ''Thomas E. Moran''. She was purchased by the United States Navy on 28 November 1940; renamed the ''Namontack'' and classified YN-46; converted to a net tender at the

New York Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a ...

; and placed in service on 18 March 1941. She was long, wide, had a draught of , and displaced .

Service history

She departed New York on 26 March 1941, and on arrival at

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

, on 28 March, reported for duty to the Commandant

5th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

. Based at Little Creek, Virginia, for the duration of the war, she performed

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

and net and boom tending services there until 1946, except for the period May to July 1942, when she served on Inshore

Patrol A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as Law enforcement officer, law enforcement officers, military personnel, or Security guard, security personnel, that are assigned to monitor or secure a specific geographic area. Etymology Fro ...

duty. During this period, she was reclassified as YNT-14 on 1 May 1942, and was again reclassified to YTB-738 on 2 August 1945. She was placed out of service on 21 August 1946 and was struck from the Navy Directory on 30 December 1946. She was sold on 30 April 1947.

References

External links

Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Namontack (Yn-46) Tugs of the United States Navy Ships built in Bay City, Michigan 1938 ships