Editing Template:USS Munsee

{{short description|Tugboat of the United States Navy}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2015}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= [[File:USS Munsee ATF-107 a.jpg|300px|USS Munsee]]
|Ship caption=
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country= United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1969}}
|Ship name= USS ''Munsee''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder=United Engineering & Drydock Co., Alameda, California
|Ship laid down=20 August 1942
|Ship launched= 21 January 1943
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 30 October 1943
|Ship decommissioned=3 November 1969
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 3 November 1969
|Ship reclassified= 
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto= 
|Ship nickname=
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|Ship fate= Sold into commercial service, 2 July 1970. Scrapped 1978.
|Ship notes=
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Abnaki|fleet ocean tug}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|1680|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= {{convert|205|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|39|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft= {{convert|16|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*[[Diesel-electric]]
*4 × [[American Locomotive Company|Alco]] diesel main engines driving 4 × [[General Electric]] generators and 3 × General Motors 3-268A auxiliary services engines, single screw
|Ship speed= {{convert|16|kn|mph km/h|lk=in}}
|Ship range= 
|Ship complement=85 officers & enlisted
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 × [[3"/50 caliber gun]]
*2 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|40 mm]] guns
|Ship armor=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Munsee'' (AT/ATF-107)''' was an {{sclass|Abnaki|fleet ocean tug}}.  She is the only ship of the [[United States Navy]] to hold the name [[Munsee]], which is the name of a subtribe of the Delaware Indians, still living in Wisconsin and Kansas.

''Munsee'' was laid down 20 August 1942 by the United Engineering & Drydock Co., Alameda, California; launched 21 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Lloyd A. Davis; and commissioned 30 October 1943, [[Lieutenant]] [[John F. Pingley]] in command.

==Service history==
===World War II===
After shakedown and brief duty from west coast ports, ''Munsee'' conducted towing operations between [[Hawaii]] and [[Midway Atoll|Midway]] and the [[Marshall Islands]]. As '''ATF-107''', redesignated 15 May 1944, she proceeded, in August, to the [[Solomon Islands]] to prepare for the invasion of the [[Palaus]]. She arrived off Peleliu, 17 September, and screened transports during the landings. She then joined in the occupation of [[Ulithi]], 23 September, and patrolled [[Naval Base Kossol Roads]]. When {{USS|Canberra|CA-70|3}} was damaged by an air attack off Formosa, 13 October, ''Munsee'' sailed to take her in tow. Rendezvousing 8 days later ''Munsee'' took over the tow from {{USS|Wichita|CA-45|6}} and put a salvage crew aboard ''Canberra''. In the process of temporary repairs and pumping out flooded compartments ''Munsee's'' salvage officer, Ensign P.S. Criblet, died while diving in the cruiser's engine room.{{sfn|Bartholomew| Milwee|2009 |p=163}} {{USS|Pawnee|ATF-74|3}} gave similar aid to {{USS|Houston|CL-81|3}}, struck the day after ''Canberra''. Still in range of land-based aircraft, the two cruisers drew heavy attacks, which ''Munsee'' and ''Pawnee'' helped to fight off as they towed the cruisers to safer waters. Relieved 21 October, she returned to the Palaus for salvage duties.

At Ulithi, 20 November, for repairs, ''Munsee'' aided in fighting fire on board {{USS|Mississinewa|AO-59|3}} when the oiler was hit by a Japanese [[kaiten]]. She maneuvered close enough to send a firefighting party aboard. After thirty minutes, they were forced off the oiler, returning to ''Munsee'' hand over hand on the mooring lines. Towing and salvage duty in the Palaus and at Ulithi continued. On 11 March 1945, she again fought fire in Ulithi Anchorage when
{{USS|Randolph|CV-15|3}} was bombed. She next joined TG 50.8 for at-sea support of the Okinawa assault force. Arriving at Kerama Retto, 8 April, she underwent two enemy air attacks, before sailing to take {{USS|Sigsbee|DD-502|3}}, damaged by enemy aircraft, in tow for Guam. Rejoining TG 50.8, she sailed with them through the violent typhoon of 5 June, during which {{USS|Pittsburgh|CA-72|3}} lost 104 feet of her bow. Munsee sailed in search of the missing section, and shortly reported having sighted it and taken it in tow. The unwieldy tow was safely brought to Guam, with {{USS|Pakana|ATF-108|3}} assisting in the final stage of the mission.

===Post-war===
The tug served in the Marianas through July and August; then, after hostilities ended, proceeded to [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] and Japan for salvage and diving operations. She opened 1946 in the Marshalls and operated between the central Pacific and the west coast until steaming to [[Bikini Atoll]] in June for "[[Operation Crossroads]]", tests conducted through the summer to determine the effects of atomic weapons on naval ships. For the next two decades the tug performed widely varied duties in the Pacific, towing assorted ships and craft from the South Pacific to the Aleutians, and from the California coast to the Asiatic mainland. The pace quickened during the [[Korean War]] in the early 1950s and again in the mid‑1960s when the United States entered into the [[Vietnam War]].
[[File:LST-821.jpg|thumb|250px|USS ''Munsee'' (ATF-107) sits alongside the {{USS|Achomawi|ATF-148|3}} at [[Mare Island Navy Yard]], 28 March 1946. Aft are {{USS|Harnett County|LST-821|3}} and {{USS|YD-33||2}}.]]

On 23 January 1957, a landing craft being used as a liberty boat in San Diego harbor collided with the ''Munsee'' while it was headed for shore. One seaman was missing and presumed drowned while three other sailors were rescued from the water by the tug and other nearby naval craft. The Navy said the landing craft was damaged, but not sunk or capsized.<ref>Associated Press, "Bay Crash Costs Life", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Thursday 24 January 1957, Volume LXIII, Number 125, page 3.</ref>

On the morning of 10 July 1965, ''Munsee'' headed for [[Pratas Islands|Pratas Reef]], 200 miles south of [[Hong Kong]]. There {{USS|Frank Knox|DD-742|3}} had grounded. First on the scene, ''Munsee'' remained for several days, helping to refloat the destroyer. On the 28th, she made a run to [[Cam Rahn Bay]] with barges in tow, and then towed ''Frank Knox'' from [[Taiwan]] to Japan for repairs. ''Munsee'' returned to San Diego 29 October 1965 and for the next year operated on the west coast. She sailed, 28 October 1966, for the Gulf of Alaska. Arriving at Adak, 5 November, she spent the next few months assisting disabled vessels in the Aleutians. She headed south again in February, arriving at San Diego on the 22nd. She operated along the west coast until 19 October, when she departed again for the Far East. After a stop at Pearl Harbor, ''Munsee'' reached Subic Bay 27 November. On 2 December she sailed for [[Vũng Tàu]], Vietnam, to assist HCU‑1 in transferring equipment between lift craft. The veteran tug continued to operate in Southeast Asia, until returning to San Diego 28 May 1968. Late in the year she prepared to return to the North Pacific.

''Munsee'' was decommissioned 3 November 1969.  She was stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] the same day.  She was sold for commercial service to Ocean Service Corporation on 2 July 1970, who passed ownership to C Y Tung.  She served under the name ''Island'' until 1978 when she was heavily damaged by a fire; the ship was scrapped shortly thereafter as the damage was too extensive to repair.

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS}}
*{{cite book |last1=Bartholomew |first1=Charles A. |last2=Milwee |first2=William I. Jr. |year=2009 |title=Mud, Muscle, And Miracles—Marine Salvage in the United States Navy |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Naval History & Heritage Command/Naval Sea Systems Command |isbn=978-0-945274-60-5 |lccn=2009014668 |url=https://archive.org/details/MudMuscleAndMiracles |url-access=registration }}

==External links==
*[https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/m/munsee.html  history.navy.mil: USS ''Munsee'' (ATF-107)]
*[https://www.navsource.org/archives/09/39/39107.htm navsource.org: USS ''Munsee'' (ATF-107)]

{{Abnaki class fleet ocean tug}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munsee (ATF-107)}}
[[Category:Abnaki-class tugs]]
[[Category:Ships built in Alameda, California]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]