Narkeeta I (Harbor Tug No. 3)
1892-1926
A tribe of the Choctaw Native American nation, resident at one time in what is now the state of Mississippi.
(Harbor Tug No. 3: displacement 192; length 92'6"; beam 21'0"; draft 8'0" (mean); speed 11.5 knots; complement 9; class Wahneta)
The first Narkeeta (Harbor Tug No. 3) was laid down in April 1891 at Bolston, Mass., by the City Point Iron Works; launched on 11 February 1892; accepted by the Navy at the Boston Navy Yard, on 12 March 1892; and commissioned on 14 April 1892.
The steel-hulled harbor tug served the Navy, performing seemingly mundane, but all important, towing and tugging services, until 1923. Operating primarily in the New York area, she aided in the efficient movement of larger vessels in and out of those congested waters during two wars: the Spanish-American War and the Great War [World War I].
Decommissioned in April 1923, Narkeeta remained at New York until sold [effectively stricken] on 28 October 1926, to Joseph F. O'Boyle. The following year, the tug was registered to the New York-based Card Towing Co., being renamed Edward L. Card by her new owners. She served as such until scrapped circa 1941-1942.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
5 April 2022
