USS Nokomis (YT-142/YTB-142/YTM-142) was a Woban-class district harbor tug built for the United States Navy. She was constructed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington; launched on 29 November 1939; completed and commissioned in March 1940; and assigned to the 14th Naval District for duty at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Namesake
The ship was named after Nokomis, the grandmother and nurse of Hiawatha in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem The Song of Hiawatha.
Pearl Harbor Attack
Nokomis was present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. She was the first vessel on scene at the stricken USS Arizona, but was called off by officers on deck due to the imminent danger of an explosion from the ship's battery below deck. She then assisted in beaching the USS Nevada alongside the tug Hoga (YT-146) and YT-153, an action that prevented the battleship from blocking the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Following the attack, Nokomis fought fires and dewatered the battleship USS California for three days, an effort that made the California salvageable and allowed her to be recommissioned later in the war.
Reclassifications
- Reclassified YTB-142 (District Harbor Tug, Large) in May 1944.
- Reclassified YTM-142 (District Harbor Tug, Medium) in February 1962.
Post-War and Final Disposition
Nokomis remained active as a service craft based at Pearl Harbor until she was decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in May 1973. She was sold to Crowley Maritime Corporation in September 1974 (with NAVSEA recording the removal date as 18 April 1975). Renamed Sea Serpent, she served as a commercial tug and fireboat in San Francisco Bay. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, Nokomis (as Sea Serpent) and Hoga fought fires alongside each other once again.
Crowley Maritime terminated operations in the San Francisco area in the early 1990s, and the vessel was reflagged Panamanian and abandoned in the mudflats of Hunters Point, San Francisco. She was rediscovered in 2002 and purchased at auction for $50 by the Historic Tugboat Education and Restoration Society (HTERS), a non-profit that aimed to restore her. However, due to mounting dock rental and insurance fees, the vessel was eventually scrapped in 2010 in Alameda, California.
Honors
Nokomis earned one battle star for her World War II service.
General Characteristics
- Class and type: Woban-class district harbor tug
- Displacement: 218 tons
- Length: 100 ft 10 in (30.73 m)
- Beam: 25 ft (7.6 m)
- Draft: 9 ft 7 in (2.92 m)
- Propulsion: 1,000 hp diesel-electric, two Enterprise engines
- Speed: 12 knots
- Complement: 8 crew members
