USS Watseka

History
United States
NameUSS Watseka
Acquiredby purchase, 1943
DecommissionedMarch 1946
ReclassifiedYTM-387, 15 May 1944
FateSold, 1 July 1972
General characteristics
TypeTugboat
Length100 ft (30 m)
Beam25 ft (7.6 m)
Draft10 ft (3.0 m)

USS Watseka (YTM-387) was a medium harbor tug of the YTM-192 class in the service of the United States Navy during World War II. The Naval Historical Center lists the namesake as: "Possibly a variant spelling of Watsaghika, a former village of the Iruwaitsu Shasta Indian tribe of northern California, at the extreme west end of Scott Valley."[1]

Watseka was purchased in 1943 from Ira S. Bushey and Sons of Brooklyn, New York, and assigned to the 8th Naval District, New Orleans, Louisiana, as YT-387. On 15 May 1944, her designation was changed from YT-387 to YTB-387. While in reserve, she was redesignated YTM-387 in February 1962.[1]

Placed in reserve, out of service, and berthed with the Columbia River, Oregon, group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet from March 1946, she was subsequently sold on 1 July 1972. As a civilian tug, she operated under the names Deborah W, Beaver, Seahorse,[2] SB IX, Seahorse, and Glen Cove.[3]

  1. ^ a b "Watseka". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command.
  2. ^ "Harbor Tugs". Harbor Tugs. NAFTS. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
  3. ^ "U.S. Shipbuilding History, Shipbuilding records, Tim Colton", Shipbuilding History website.