USS Salinan (ATF-161)
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USS ''Salinan'' (ATF-161) was an built for the United States Navy during World War II. Named after the
Salinan The Salinan are a Native American tribe whose ancestral territory is in the southern Salinas Valley and the Santa Lucia Range in the Central Coast of California. Today, the Salinan governments are now working toward federal tribal recognition f ...
peoples (native inhabitants of what is now the Central Coast of California, in the Salinas Valley), she was the only U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. ''Salinan'' was laid down on 13 April 1945 by the Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
; launched on 20 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Lillie E. Hilton; and commissioned on 9 November 1945.


Service history


1946–1950

Assigned to Service Force, Atlantic Fleet, and attached initially to Service Squadron 1 (ServRon 1), ''Salinan'' completed shakedown in Chesapeake Bay early in the new year, 1946. She then conducted several towing assignments along the mid-Atlantic and southeastern coasts of the United States. In March, she sailed to
Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...
, where she relieved the as the fleet ocean tug assigned to the Surface Antisubmarine Development Detachment (later called the Key West Test and Evaluation Detachment). Among her first assignments was towing a fleet barge carrying a two-man submersible down the Mississippi River and across the Gulf to Key West later that year. 15 October 1946 found her back at
Charleston Navy Yard Charleston Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Charleston Navy Yard) was a U.S. Navy ship building and repair facility located along the west bank of the Cooper River, in North Charleston, South Carolina and part of Naval Base Charleston. H ...
, and while maneuvering out her slip that afternoon, ''Salinan'' collided with , carrying away the destroyer's starboard propeller guard. Several bulkheads were damaged on both vessels. On 26 April 1948, while engaged in services at Key West, the submarine collided with ''Salinan'' while conducting a submerged exercise at a 60-foot depth. ''Cochino''suffered damage to her periscope shears, both periscopes, and radar antenna, requiring major repairs. Damage to the tug was minimal however, requiring only a short period in dry dock.


1950–1962

In November 1950, ''Salinan'' and , rendered assistance to destroyers , and , which had collided off Bermuda during night maneuvers. The damage to both destroyers was substantial, and resulted in the deaths of six sailors. ''Roans engines were knocked out by the collision, and were henceforth taken in tow by ''Luiseno''. ''Brownson'', a large section of her bow missing, limped to Bermuda under her own power, escorted by ''Salinan'', and arrived safely in Bermuda a few days later. ''Salinan'' remained based at Key West for the next 17 years – despite transfers to ServRon 4 and ServRon 8 – and continued to provide towing, recovery, salvage, rescue, and fire-fighting services in addition to those required by the Development Detachment. She remained primarily in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, but was occasionally sent further north, operating near
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 ...
and the New England coast. Tows ranged in size from targets and district craft to floating cranes and dry docks, minecraft, destroyers, and tankers. Her crowded schedule was periodically interrupted for overhauls, training, and fleet exercises. In 1956, ''Salinan'' was awarded the Navy Award of Excellence for best in the Atlantic.


1962–1971

The fleet tug's normal duties were interrupted by the
Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
in late 1962, during which she provided critical support services in the immediate area along with several of her sister ships. Operating in standby emergency status from 24 October to 10 December that year, ''Salinan'' participated in quarantine operations and aided in staging vessels and equipment for a possible invasion of Cuba. The ship was a frequent presence at Guantanamo Bay during this period. Tensions in the Caribbean remained high throughout the mid-1960s, and ''Salinan'' spent much of her time in the waters surrounding Cuba and the Dominican Republic performing a variety of functions. In November 1966, the fleet tug steamed to San Juan, Puerto Rico to take the refloated minesweeper in tow, which had sunk at the pier following a fire in her machinery space. ''Salinan'' arrived in Charleston with ''Stalwart'' later that month. On 7 January 1967, the fleet tug shifted her homeport to
Mayport, Florida Mayport is a small community located between Naval Station Mayport and the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the Jacksonville Beaches communities. The only public road to Mayport is State Road A1A, which crosses the St. Johns ...
. Increased training services- target towing and torpedo recovery- did not diminish her towing, rescue, and development support work. The following year, ''Salinan'' added support operations for NASA to her achievements, serving as the launch site sea salvage vessel for the
Apollo 8 Apollo 8 (December 21–27, 1968) was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. The crew orbited the Moon ten times without landing, and then departed safely back to Earth. These ...
mission. As such, she stood by for recovery purposes should the mission be aborted within a few minutes after launch. She performed the same service for Apollo 10, and in July 1969 stood by for the historic launch of Apollo 11 – the first successful lunar landing. On 26 July 1971, ''Salinan'' served NASA once more for the launch of
Apollo 15 Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a ...
, for which she also recorded sonic boom data for analysis by NASA personnel.


1971–1978

During the 1970s, ''Salinan'' made several transatlantic deployments to
Holy Loch The Holy Loch ( gd, An Loch Sianta/Seunta) is a sea loch, a part of the Cowal peninsula coast of the Firth of Clyde, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The "Holy Loch" name is believed to date from the 6th century, when Saint Munn landed there afte ...
, Scotland, towing sections of the floating dry dock . She also recovered a number of downed aircraft during this period, including salvaging a Navy helicopter from considerable depth. On 14 April 1975, ''Salinan'' departed Mayport in the midst of a severe gale to render assistance to the gunboat , which had become disabled and lost power during the storm. High seas and gale-force winds battered the stranded gunboat for eight hours until ''Salinan'' arrived to tow her back to Mayport early the next morning. The veteran tug continued to provide valuable towing, rescue, and salvage services along the east coast of the United States throughout the remainder of her career, and was decommissioned at Mayport on 1 September 1978. That same day she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register and transferred, cash sale, to Venezuela under the
Security Assistance Program The United States Department of Defense's Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program facilitates sales of U.S. arms, defense equipment, defense services, and military training to foreign governments. The purchaser does not deal directly with the defense ...
.


Venezuelan Navy

Upon arrival there, she began her new career with the Venezuelan Navy as ''Contralmirante Miguel Rodriguez'' (R-23 and later RA-33). Based in
Puerto Cabello Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the coun ...
, she served that navy for another 25 years as a patrol gunboat, salvage vessel, and hydrographic research vessel before finally being retired in 2003. As of early 2007, the ship sat out of commission moored at Puerto Cabello, her condition deteriorating.


Awards

During her service with the US Navy, ''Salinan'' was awarded the Navy
Meritorious Unit Commendation The Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC; pronounced ''muck'') is a mid-level unit award of the United States Armed Forces. The U.S. Army awards units the Army MUC for exceptionally meritorious conduct in performance of outstanding achievement or s ...
four times, more than any vessel in her class. She was also awarded the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, National Defense Service Medal (2), and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for her service in Cuba.


References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Salinan Abnaki-class tugs Ships built in Charleston, South Carolina Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States 1945 ships Ships transferred from the United States Navy to the Bolivarian Navy of Venezuela