Tonawanda II (AN-89)
1945-1977
The creek that rises in Wyoming County, N.Y., and flows northwest through Niagara County to empty into the Niagara River. Tonawanda is a Seneca Native American word meaning “swift water,” referring to river rapids.
II
(AN-89: displacement 775 (trial); length 168'6"; beam 33'10"; draft 10'10" (full load); speed 12.3 knots (trial); complement 46; armament 1 3-inch; class Cohoes)
The second Tonawanda (AN-89) was laid down on 12 September 1944 at Sturgeon Bay, Wis., by the Leathern D. Smith Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 14 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Charles N. Barnum; and commissioned on 9 May 1945, Lt. Edward F. McLaughlin in command.
The net laying ship departed Sturgeon Bay on 19 May 1945 and, after a voyage across the Great Lakes and down the St. Lawrence River, arrived in Boston, Mass., on 4 June. After a short availability, she moved to Melville, R.I., on the 19th for shakedown training and daily net laying drills in Narragansett Bay. Tonawanda stood out of Boston harbor again on 18 July and shaped a course south to Key West, Fla., and thence to the Panama Canal.
Tonawanda transited the isthmian waterway (2—3 August 1945) and continued her voyage to San Pedro, Calif., where she arrived on 15 August, the day after hostilities in the Pacific ceased. She reported for duty in the Eleventh Naval District and, for the next ten weeks, operated in the Eleventh Naval District at San Pedro, Seal Beach, Long Beach, and Port Hueneme, disposing of nets and salvaging net buoys. On 27 November, the ship stood out of San Pedro Bay and headed back to the Panama Canal which she transited on the 8th. Continuing north, she arrived in Norfolk, Va., on 19 November and reported for duty with the Service Force, Atlantic Fleet.
On 3 January 1946, Tonawanda received orders to duty in the Seventh Naval District and, on the 4th, stood out of the Chesapeake Bay and turned south. She reached Miami, Fla., on 7 January and began assisting in hydrographic triangulation surveys in the Florida-Cuba-Bahamas area. That duty lasted until 7 April when the net laying ship departed Miami in company with Marietta (AN-82) for New Orleans. Tonawanda remained at New Orleans from 25 April to 11 May, when she shifted to Orange, Texas, to prepare for inactivation. Tonawanda was decommissioned on 9 August 1946 and berthed at Orange.
On 18 March 1952, after almost six years in reserve, Tonawanda was recommissioned at Orange, Lt. Clarence A. Tennehill in command. After trials off Sabine Pass, Texas, she departed the Texas coast on 21 March bound for New England duty in the First Naval District. The ship arrived in Boston on 1 April and entered the Bethlehem Simpson Shipyard to complete outfitting. On 10 June, she moved to the Net Depot at Melville, R.I., where she began seven years of experimental net installation duties in the vicinity of Melville and Boston.
Periodically, Tonawanda departed the New England coast to conduct underway training and mine warfare tactics exercises in Chesapeake Bay and off the Virginia capes. On two occasions (28 August—21 October 1955 and 2 May—30 June 1956) temporary duty with the Mine Warfare Evaluation Detachment, Key West interrupted her routine along the New England coast. During those two periods, she assisted other ships assigned to the detachment in experiments in mine planting, testing, recovery, and in overall mine warfare tactical development. After each of those tours, she resumed normal operations out of Melville and Boston.
On 16 November 1959, Tonawanda departed Boston and headed for Bayonne, N.J., to prepare once more for inactivation. On 18 December 1959, Tonawanda was decommissioned at Bayonne and assigned to the New York Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She remained there until 25 May 1960 when she was leased to the government of Haiti under the terms of the Military Assistance Program. She was renamed Jean Jacques Dessalines and given the identification number (MH-10)
Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 April 1977, the ship was sold outright to the Haitian government on 1 June 1981.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
26 June 2020
