Wingina (YTB-395)
1944-1985
The principal chief of the Secotan Native American tribe in the area now known as North Carolina during Sir Walter Raleigh's two expeditions (1585--1586, who was ultimately slain during one of his attempts to resist the coming of the English settlers.
(YTB-395: displacement 345 (full load); length 100'0"; breadth 26'0"; draft 9'7" (full load); speed 12 knots; complement 14; class Sassaba)
Harbor tug YT-395 was laid down on 25 January 1944 at Jacksonville, Fla., by the Gibbs Gas Engine Co.; named Wingina and reclassfied as a big harbor tug YTB-395 on 15 May 1944; launched on 14 July 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Ralph B. Weidner, the wife of Ens. Ralph B. Weidner, USNR; and completed and placed in service on 15 December 1944.
Initially allocated to the Thirteenth Naval District, Wingina was placed in reserve, out of service, in March 1946, and berthed at Astoria, Oregon, in the Columbia River Group of the Reserve Fleet. Reactivated in July 1947, the large harbor tug operated into the late 1970's, during which time, in February 1962, she was reclassified a medium harbor tug, YTM-395.
For a brief time, June 1964 to March 1965, Wingina was carried on the Naval Vessel Register as being in "active" status, but as a "redesignated activity craft." At the end of that period, she was reclassified back to "active, in service," a status in which she again operated in the Thirteenth Naval District, providing pilotage, tug and tow services, and waterfront fire protection.
Ultimately stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 December 1985, ex-Wingina was sold for commercial use a little less than a year later, on 16 December 1986; her new owners renamed her Murph. Ultimately, her owners stripped and scuttled the vessel, illegally, in October 2007 in Quartermaster Harbor, Maury Island, Washington, and she remained as a navigational hazard (as well as a popular local site for sport divers) until raised and removed in November 2014.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
1 December 2021
