''Washtucna'' (YTB-826) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

named for Chief Washtucna of the

Palus Palus may refer to: * Palus, Maharashtra, a place in India * 24194 Paľuš, a main belt asteroid, named for Pavel Paľuš (born 1936), Slovak astronomer * Palus tribe, or Palouse people * ''Palus'', a grade of gladiator See also * Palu (disam ...

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

Construction

The contract for ''Washtucna'' was awarded 9 August 1971. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 1 May 1973 at

Marinette, Wisconsin Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River, at its mouth at Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephe ...

, by

Marinette Marine Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) is an American shipbuilding firm in Marinette, Wisconsin. Marinette Marine was a subsidiary of The Manitowoc Company, Manitowoc Marine Group of Wisconsin from 2000 to 2009, when it was sold to Fincantieri Mari ...

and launched 9 October 1973.

Operational history

Placed in service at

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, ''Washtucna'' performed local and coastal towing tasks for the

11th Naval District United States Naval Districts is a system created by the United States Navy to organize military facilities, numbered sequentially by geographic region, for the operational and administrative control of naval bases and shore commands in the Unit ...

. Stricken from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, 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 authorities of a co ...

21 August 1997, ex-''Washtucna'' was transferred to the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...

Midway Island Midway Atoll (colloquial: Midway Islands; ; ) is a atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. Midway Atoll is an insular area of the United States and is an unorganized and unincorporated territory. The largest island is Sand Island, which has housi ...

17 October 1997. Converted to twin

z-drive A Z-drive is a type of marine propulsion unit. Specifically, it is an azimuth thruster. The pod can rotate 360 degrees allowing for rapid changes in thrust direction and thus vessel direction. This eliminates the need for a conventional rudder. ...

, she was reacquired by the navy and reinstated on 7 October 2008. Ex-''Washtucna'' was simultaneously reclassified and redesignated as unnamed

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

tug YT-801. Currently in active service at

Bangor, Washington Bangor Base is a census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, within U.S. Naval Base Kitsap on the Kitsap Peninsula. Its population was 5,482 at the 2020 census. Geography Bangor is located north of the center of Kitsap County ...

as Z-826.

References

* *

External links

* Natick-class large harbor tugs Ships built by Marinette Marine 1973 ships {{US-mil-ship-stub