Abinago (YTB-493)
1945-1975
A Navajo word meaning "in the morning."
(YTB-493: displacement 240; length 100'0"; beam 25'0"; draft 10'0"; speed 11 knots; complement 10; class Pessacus)
Abinago (YTB-493) was laid down on 25 September 1944 at Brooklyn, N. Y., by Ira S. Bushey & Sons; launched on 22 December 1944; and delivered to the Navy on 14 June 1945.
Placed in service with the First Fleet, the tug served on the west coast until May of 1947, when she was placed in reserve at San Diego. By January 1949, the ship had moved to the Fifteenth Naval District in Panama but apparently remained in reserve. In October 1950, she was placed back in service for duty in the Fifth Naval District, based at Norfolk. Late in 1958, Abinago was reassigned from the Fifth Naval District to "advanced bases, Atlantic." However, extant records reveal no specific facts concerning her duties. During her somewhat over eight years in that assignment, the vessel was reclassified a medium harbor tug in February 1962 and simultaneously redesignated YTM-93. Abinago was in the Atlantic Inactive Fleet between March 1967 and February 1968 and then resumed active service with the Atlantic Fleet. In 1973, the tug was listed as active in the Fifth Naval District but preparing for inactivation. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 May 1975 and she was turned over to the Government Services Administration for disposal. Sold to the University of Georgia Institute of Natural Resources, she was transferred on 21 November 1975.
