USS ''Penobscot'' (SP-982/YT-42/YTB-42) was a commercial harbor

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

purchased by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

at the start of World War I. ''Penobscot'' performed her towing services for the

5th Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Comman ...

on the

U.S. East Coast The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the ...

, and continued to do so for the

3rd Naval District The naval district was a U.S. Navy military and administrative command ashore. Apart from Naval District Washington, the Districts were disestablished and renamed Navy Regions about 1999, and are now under Commander, Naval Installations Command ...

through the end of World War II. She was finally retired from Navy service in 1947.

Commercial activity

The second ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy, ''Penobscot'' (SP–982), a 121-foot-long harbor tug, was built as ''Luckenbach No. 5'' by Risdon Iron Works, San Francisco, California, in 1904. Under the name ''Dauntless'' she operated on the Pacific Ocean Coast until 1916, then moved to the Atlantic Ocean seaboard.

World War I service

She was acquired by the U.S. Navy from

Luckenbach Steamship Company Luckenbach is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a community belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Geography The village lies northeast of Koblenz in the valley of the Kleine Nister. Luckenbach be ...

and placed in service 29 August 1917 as SP–982. Through

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

she served as a section

patrol craft A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they ...

in the

, operating in

Hampton Roads, Virginia Hampton Roads is the name of both a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James, Nansemond and Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point where the Chesapeake Bay flows into the Atlanti ...

, and the Elizabeth River. and in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

waters during the remainder of World War I. She also served in Europe, and suffered a fire off Villa Franca,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, on 5 October 1918 that took the life of one person.

World War II service

Shortly after World War I she was redesignated YT–42 and assigned harbor duties in the

. She was slated for replacement in 1939, but war extended her period of use to the Navy. Through

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

she continued to serve the Fleet as a tug in New York Harbor.

Final decommissioning

Redesignated YTB 42 in May 1944, ''Penobscot'' remained active until 29 October 1945, when she was placed out of service at New York City. Struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...

17 April 1946, she was turned over to the

U.S. Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

31 January 1947 for disposal.

References

*
USS Penobscot (SP-982, later YT-42 and YTB-42), 1917-1947. Previously the civilian harbor tug Dauntless (1903) and Luckenbach No. 5.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penobscot World War I auxiliary ships of the United States World War II auxiliary ships of the United States Tugs of the United States Navy Ships built in San Francisco 1903 ships