USS ''Tensaw'' (YT-418/YTB-418/YTM-418) was a ''Sassaba''-class district harbor tug that served 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 ...

at the end of World War II. She remained in the Pacific Ocean to support the U.S. Pacific Fleet during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, and continued to serve until she was struck in 1967.

Built by the Coast Guard in Maryland

''Tensaw'' (YTB-418) ex-YT-418, was laid down on 8 August 1944 at the United States Coast Guard Yard, Curtis Bay, Maryland; launched on 11 October 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Albert G. Mariner, Jr.; and placed in service on 8 March 1945.

World War II-related service

Late that month, the new large harbor tug reported to the Commandant of the

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 ...

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 ...

. In April, she proceeded via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

to the Pacific Ocean and arrived at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

, Hawaii, on 14 May to begin duties in support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. In June 1945, she steamed, via the

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

, to the

Mariana Islands The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

where she operated through the end of World War II. After

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

capitulated, the tug continued to serve in the Marianas until the Korean War sent her, via the Philippine Islands, to Japan.

Korean War support

Arriving at Yokosuka, Japan, on 7 February 1951, she supported

United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the South Korea, Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, an ...

forces through the signing of the

Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement ( ko, 한국정전협정 / 조선정전협정; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United Sta ...

in the summer of 1953. After the Korean War she continued in the western Pacific through the 1950s and into the 1960s.

Final disposition

Redesignated a medium harbor tug (YTM) on 1 February 1962, she remained with the Pacific Fleet until July 1967 when she was inactivated, and her name was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

. The tug was initially slated for disposal by sale but was instead sunk as a target during fleet training exercises, 1 February 1987.

References

*
Navsource.org

External links

at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Tensaw Ships built in Baltimore World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Korean War auxiliary ships of the United States Sassaba-class tugs 1944 ships