1925: The Decommissioning of a U.S. Navy Tugboat after More than a Quarter-Century of Service

March 7, 1925

After more than a quarter-century of service in both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, the U.S. Navy tugboat USS Iroquois (AT-46) was decommissioned. This steam tugboat was the second Navy vessel named after a confederacy of Native Americans and First Nations peoples originally based in the northeastern part of North America. The first USS Iroquois was a ship that served in the Union Navy during the American Civil War.

The tugboat version of USS Iroquois started out as a private vessel that was built by Union Iron Works in San Francisco in 1892 and named “Fearless.” This tugboat was purchased by the Navy from J.D. Spreckles Brothers & Company on April 18, 1898, as part of military preparations for an impending war with Spain. The vessel was commissioned as Iroquois on July of that year. Lieutenant Laurin Hamilton Turner was this tugboat’s first commanding officer.

Iroquois subsequently served as a station tug at the Mare Island Navy Yard (MINSY), which is 25 miles (40 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco. She remained at this Navy base until January 19, 1899, when she was transferred to the newly annexed U.S. territory of Hawaii.  During her long-term tour of duty in that region of the Pacific, Iroquois not only served as a tugboat but was also used for conducting research at sea and delivering mail in the vicinity of both those islands and the unincorporated U.S. territory of Midway Atoll.

Iroquois finally returned to MINSY in 1910 and, over the next several years, operated between that base and San Diego. At this point in her career, the vessel was used extensively for transporting coal and other cargo and also carrying out patrol and salvage duties.

Following the United States’ entry into World War I, Iroquois was transferred to New York City. Her roles in that part of the globe included serving as a tugboat as well as a convoy escort along the Eastern Seaboard for a few months in 1918.  

On June 30 of the following year — nearly seven months after the armistice ending the war went into effect — Iroquois departed from New York City and eventually ended up in San Diego. She served the Navy as a harbor craft out of San Diego until her decommissioning in 1925.

Three years later, Iroquois was sold to Benjamin L. Jones of Bellington, Washington. This one-time Navy vessel was scrapped in 1952. (The accompanying photo of Iroquois was taken off the coast of MINSY sometime during the 1910s.)

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on USS Iroquois (AT-46), please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Iroquois_(AT-46)