Pontiac II (YT-20)
An Ottawa Indian chief, Pontiac headed a general Indian uprising in 1763 known as Pontiac's War, remembered for the attack on the British at Detroit. He made peace in 1766 and remained friendly to the colonists until his death in 1769.
II
The second Pontiac was laid down as Right Arm in 1891 by Peter McGishan, Athens, N.Y.; purchased by the Navy from Merritt & Chapman 23 April 1898; renamed Pontiac 23 April.
Pontiac served in harbors along the north Atlantic coast. She operated in yards such as New York, Boston, New London, and Charleston, S.C.; she commissioned 1 July 1911. During World War I, she concentrated efforts at New York, a major center for domestic and foreign commerce. She was renamed Passaic 11 April 1918. Continuing harbor and district tug operations after the war, she decommissioned and was placed on the sale list in 1921. She was sold to John Kantzler & Sons, Bay City, Mich. 25 February 1922.
