Penobscot III (ATA-188)
(ATA-188: dp. 5341 l. 143'; b. 33'; dr. 13'; s. 13 k.; cpl. 45; a. 1 3"; cl. Sotoyomo)
An Indian tribe of Algonquian stock, inhabitants of eastern Maine.
III
The third Penobscot (ATA-188), an auxiliary ocean tug, was laid down as ATR-115 by Levingston Shipbuilding Co., Orange, Tex. 11 September 1944; launched 12 October; and placed in service 12 December.
Following shakedown Penobscot was designated for duty in the Far East. Assigned homeyard at Pearl Harbor, she provided extensive advanced base towing services and called at numerous islands as events in the march towards victory in the Pacific reached a crescendo. With the end of hostilities, the ocean tug operated for a short time out of Chinese ports.
In April 1946 Penobscot returned to home waters and was assigned to the 3rd Naval District. From this point she commenced a lengthy career of east coast towing operations. As a 3rd Naval District ship homeported at New York and berthed at the Naval Supply Center, Bayonne, N.J., she spends an average of half of each year away from home port, ranging from Maine to the Caribbean Islands.
In addition to towing assignments, Penobscot conducts torpedo and mine recovery operations, and provides a wide range of services to ships of the Fleet. One demonstration of her operational flexibility occurred in May 1967 when she assisted USNS Mission Capistrano in oceanographic research off Bermuda.
In July 1967 she shifted from the 3rd Naval District List to the Service Force, Atlantic Fleet. After overhaul at Coastal Shipyard and Drydock Co., Staten Island, N.Y., that autumn, Penobscot resumed her multifarious tasks, nearly every aspect of which involves the rendering of service to the Fleet. Into 1970 she remains active with the Service Force, Atlantic Fleet.
