USS ''Secota'' (YTB-415) was a harbor tug that served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

from 1945 to 1986. ''Secota'' was assigned to the

United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

soon after delivery to the Navy. She was at

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in August 1945; visited

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, China in July 1946; and replaced at Yokosuka, Japan, on 20 August 1947. During 1950, ''Secota'' visited Hungnam and

Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, Korea; her last recorded port of call was

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

, Japan, apparently returning to Japan from Korea during the waning days of 1950. After that time, ''Secota'' was continuously assigned to advanced American bases in the Pacific. In February 1962 she was redesignated a medium harbor tug, YTM-415. On 22 March 1986, near

Midway Island Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; haw, Kauihelani, translation=the backbone of heaven; haw, Pihemanu, translation=the loud din of birds, label=none) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the Unit ...

, ''Secota'' had just completed a personnel transfer with the when ''Secota'' lost power and collided with ''Georgia''. ''Secota'' lost power before it was clear, causing an impact with the sub's stern dive planes, where the tug got hung up. ''Secota'' sank; ten crewman were rescued, but two crewmen trapped in the engine room drowned. While the media reported that the ''Georgia'' was undamaged, a report sent by the commanding officer of the ''Georgia'' indicates that after returning the surviving crew members to Hawaii, ''Georgia'' underwent emergency repairs for minor damage sustained in the collision.

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Secota Sassaba-class tugs Ships built in Baltimore 1944 ships World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1986 Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Ships sunk in collisions