USS ATA-217

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History
Union Navy Jack United States
Name: USS Tesota
Namesake: A small leguminous tree found in Mexico and the southwestern section of the United States. Also called desert ironwood.
Ordered: as YN-95
Builder: Canulette Shipbuilding Co., Slidell, Louisiana
Laid down: 11 December 1943 as Tesota (YN-95)
Launched: 29 July 1944
Commissioned: 16 January 1945 as USS ATA-217
Decommissioned: 7 May 1946, at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, California
Reclassified: AN-71, 20 January 1944; USS ATA-217, 10 August 1944
Struck: 21 May 1946
Fate: transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission, 25 March 1947; fate unknown
General characteristics
Type: Palo Blanco-class auxiliary fleet tug
Displacement: 1,275 tons
Length: 194' 6"
Beam: 34' 7"
Draft: 14' 1"
Propulsion: diesel-electric, single screw, 2,500hp
Speed: 12.1 knots
Complement: 57 officers and enlisted
Armament: two single 40mm AA gun mounts

USS ATA-217 was an ATA-214-class tug of the United States Navy built near the end of World War II. Originally laid down as Tesota (YN-95), a net tender of the Ailanthus class, she was redesignated as AN-71, a net layer, before launch. Before completion, the name Tesota was cancelled and the ship was named ATA-217, an unnamed auxiliary ocean tug.

Career

ATA-217 was laid down as the net tender Tesota (YN-95) on 11 December 1943 at Slidell, Louisiana, by the Canulette Shipbuilding Company; was reclassified a net laying ship and redesignated AN-71 on 20 January 1944; and was launched on 29 July 1944. However, the name Tesota was canceled on 10 August 1944, and the ship was reclassified an auxiliary ocean tug and re-designated ATA-217 on the same day. She was commissioned on 16 January 1945, Lt. H. A. V. Post, USNR, in command. Following a short shakedown cruise early in February 1945, the tug departed Norfolk, Virginia, for Hawaii and arrived at her home port, Pearl Harbor, on 1 March. After serving there for more than a year, the ship proceeded to the U.S. West Coast.

ATA-217 was decommissioned at Mare Island, California, on 7 May, and was struck from the Navy List on 21 May 1946. ATA-217 was transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission on 25 March 1947 and was sold the same day to Martinolick Shipbuilding Co., San Francisco, California.

References