Wahneta II (YT-134)
1939-1946
The second U.S. Navy ship to be named for Waneta, the Yanktonai Sioux Native American (1795-1848). See Wahneta I for biography.
II
(YT-134: displacement 250; length 100'0"; beam 25'0"; draft 10'0")
Wahneta (YT-134) was laid down on 29 September 1938 at Vallejo, Calif., by the Mare Island Navy Yard; and launched at midnight on 3 May 1939, as tide conditions were most favorable then, via an "aerial route." Large cranes hoisted her up from her building ways, swung her out over the water, and then gently lowered her into the channel.
Completed on 23 June 1939, and subsequently commissioned, Wahneta performed towing and fire-fighting duties in the busy Twelfth Naval District throughout World War II. During this service, she was redesignated as a medium harbor tug, YTM-134, on 15 May 1944. After the close of World War II, the yardcraft was declared surplus to Navy needs and was stricken from the Navy List on 30 December 1946. She was transferred to the Maritime Commission on 2 June 1947 for disposal.
Acquired in 1947 by the Curtis Bay Towing firm, Baltimore, Md., the tug was renamed C. Stewart Lee. Purchased by the Norfolk, Virginia-based Bay Towing Co., she was renamed Bay Prince in 1971. She changed hands again, becoming Marie Swann in 1998 with the Indian River Towing Co. of Wilmington, Delaware.
Robert J. Cressman
Updated 1 April 2022
