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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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Winnemucca II (YTB-785)

1966-1995

The second U.S. Navy ship to be named for the city in northwestern Nevada.

II

(YTB-785: displacement 356 (full load); length 109'; extreme beam 31'; draft 14' (maximum navigational); speed 12 knots (trial); complement 12; class Natick)

The second Winnemucca (YTB-785) was laid down on 23 September 1965 at Marinette, Wisc., by the Marinette Marine Corp.; launched on 23 December 1965; delivered to the Navy on 4 May 1966; and placed in service in June 1966.

Initially assigned to the Fifth Naval District, the large harbor tug operated in the Norfolk area until the Spring of 1967.. Reassigned at that time to Vietnam, Winnemucca arrived "in country" on 10 June 1967 and, for the remainder of U.S. involvement in that conflict, served with Task Force 117, the Mobile Riverine Force.  During her almost six years of participating in combat operations on the rivers and in the swamps of South Vietnam (13 distinctive periods between 10 June 1967 and 28 January 1973), Winnemucca distinguished herself in in a dangerous and unpredictable wartime environment.

At the end of U.S. participation in that civil war in 1973, the tug was reassigned to the Seventeenth Naval District and operated out of Adak, Alaska. That tour of duty ended late in 1975 when the ship began service at San Francisco, attached to the Twelfth Naval District. 

Ultimately stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 December 1995, the tug was disposed-of, sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for reuse/conversion, to LMW Investments, Inc., of Chula Vista, Calif., on 22 December 2003, and her NVR status duly changed on 21 January 2004. Acquired subsequently by Greger Pacific Marine Inc. (founded 1996), of Napa, California, Hawaii, for offshore service, the battle-tested tug was renamed Noelani, to honor the daughter of owner Ron Greger. The tug retained that name when she was acquired by Coos Bay Tugboat Co., of Coos Bay, Oregon, in 2020. As of the time of this wtiting (2021), Noelani was still operating in that capacity.

Winnemucca received two Presidential Unit Citations, four Navy Unit Commendations, and 13 battle stars for her service during the Vietnam War, distinguishing her as easily one of the most decorated vessels of her type.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

1 December 2021

Published: Wed Dec 01 13:28:01 EST 2021