USS Seminole (AT-65), the third ship named Seminole of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

, was a whose task was to travel with the fleet and provide towing services as required.

Seminole was laid down on 16 December 1938 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation

Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works in 1905...

, Staten Island

Staten Island

Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

; launched on 15 September 1939; sponsored by Miss Grace Svenningsen, daughter of the Foreman Carpenter at the Staten Island Yard; and commissioned on 8 March 1940, Lt. Comdr. William G. Fewel in command.

East Coast operations

Following shakedown

Shakedown (testing)

A shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...

 along the U.S. East Coast, Seminole steamed for San Diego, California

San Diego, California

San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

, and towing operations along the U.S. West Coast, and around Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, Wake Island

Wake Island

Wake Island is a coral atoll having a coastline of in the North Pacific Ocean, located about two-thirds of the way from Honolulu west to Guam east. It is an unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States, administered by the Office of Insular Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior...

, and to the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

.

World War II Pacific Theater operations

On one such trip, Seminole departed Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 en route to San Diego. At 1317 on 7 December 1941, however, the ocean-going tug sounded general quarters

General quarters

General Quarters or Battle Stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship to signal the crew to prepare for battle or imminent damage....

, reversed her course, and anchored at Pearl Harbor on the 12th.

With her sister ship, , Seminole operated in Pearl Harbor during the busy, hectic days following the Japanese attack. On 15 February 1942, however, Seminole embarked a salvage team and departed Pearl Harbor for Canton Island where, from 21 February to 24 March, she assisted in salvage operations for the grounded Army transport, . On the 24th, she reembarked her divers; took in tow; and steamed for Pearl Harbor. Arriving on 31 March, she remained in the harbor on channel escort duty until 31 May, when she commenced salvage operations on patrol craft, YP-108, off nearby Wahie Point, Lanai

Lanai

Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....

. Three days later, she returned to Pearl Harbor.

Sailing to the South Pacific

On 4 June, the ocean tug

Tugboat

A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...

 got underway for Midway Island. Arriving on 10 June, she took in tow and delivered her to Pearl Harbor on the 17th. Repairs and further channel escort duty followed; then, on 15 August, she got underway.

Moving south and west, Seminole anchored in Suva

Suva

Suva features a tropical rainforest climate under the Koppen climate classification. The city sees a copious amount of precipitation during the course of the year. Suva averages 3,000 mm of precipitation annually with its driest month, July averaging 125 mm of rain per year. In fact,...

 Harbor, Fiji Islands, on the 26th; continued on the next day to the Tonga Islands; anchored at Tongatapu

Tongatapu

Tongatapu is the main island of the Kingdom of Tonga and the location of its capital Nukualofa. It is located in Tonga's southern island group, to which it gives its name, and is the country's most populous island, with approximately 71,260 residents , 70.5% of the national population...

 on the 29th; and commenced channel escort duty in Nukualofa

Nukuʻalofa

Nukualofa is the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga. It is located on the north coast of the island of Tongatapu, in the southern most island group of Tonga.-Mythological origins:...

 anchorage, Tongatapu. She continued her escort duties at Tongatapu until 8 October.

Battle action at Tulagi

Seminole arrived off Tulagi

Tulagi

Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida Island. The town of the same name on the island Tulagi, less commonly Tulaghi, is a small island (5.5 km by 1 km) in the Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Florida...

 on 18 October, where she was assigned to ferry ammunition, gasoline, and troops. On the morning of 25 October, Seminole and YP-284 were unloading aviation gasoline, howitzer

Howitzer

A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...

s, and U.S. Marines about three and one-half miles east of Lunga Point

Lunga Point

Lunga Point is a promontory on the northern coast of Guadalcanal, the site of a naval battle during World War II. It was also the name of a nearby airfield, later named Henderson Field....

 when three enemy destroyers appeared to the northwest. The smaller vessels immediately got underway, heading eastward in hopes of avoiding the enemy fire. The enemy, after breaking contact with two American destroyers, changed course and pursued the slower Seminole and YP-284. The first shells to hit Seminole did so at about 1115, and were followed by two more hitting salvos.

Abandoning ship

The order to abandon the burning, sinking ship was given at 1120, minutes after YP-284 went under, and Seminole sank about 1,000 yards off-shore between Lengo and the point to the east. Since the majority of the enemy projectiles had passed through her thin-skinned sides without exploding, Seminole lost only one crew member in the action.

Seminole was struck from the Navy list

Navy List

A 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 country....

on 2 December 1942.

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