USS Wapato (YTB-788) was a 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...

  large district harbor tug

Tug

Tuğ is a village in the Khojavend Rayon of Azerbaijan....

 named for Wapato, Washington

Wapato, Washington

Wapato is a city in Yakima County, Washington, United States. The population was 4,997 at the 2010 census.-History:The town was originally founded in 1885 by Indian Postmaster Alexander McCredy as a railroad stop on the Northern Pacific Railroad as Simcoe, Washington...

.

Construction and commissioning

The contract for Wapato was awarded 14 January 1965. She was laid down on 14 January 1966 at Marinette, Wisconsin

Marinette, Wisconsin

Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 11,749 at the 2000 census.Marinette is the principal city of the Marinette, WI–MI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Marinette County, Wisconsin and Menominee...

, by Marinette Marine

Marinette Marine

Marinette Marine Corporation is a shipbuilding firm in Marinette, Wisconsin. MMC was a subsidiary of Manitowoc Marine Group, also in Wisconsin, but was sold to Fincantieri Marine Group in 2009...

 and launched 18 April 1966.

Operational history

Delivered to the U.S. Navy on 21 June 1966, Wapato was assigned to the 10th Naval District and operated out of San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, aiding ships in berthing and docking maneuvers and providing waterfront fire protection.

Stricken on 25 April 1996, Wapato was sold on 27 December 2002.

Repowered and chartered for a time to SeaBulk Towing of Florida as Osprey, ex-Wapato is currently acive in commercial service as Barbara MacAllister.

External links