USS Mohave (AT-15) was a 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...

. The unnamed steel-hulled Fleet Tug No.15 was laid down on 16 December 1913 by the Seattle Construction and Drydock Company

Seattle Construction and Drydock Company

The Seattle Construction and Drydock Company was a shipbuilding company based in Seattle, Washington. Formally established in 1911, the shipyard could trace its history back to 1882, when Robert Moran opened a marine repair shop at Yesler's Wharf...

. She was named Mohave in accordance with General Order No. 97 of 9 May 1914, for the Yuman tribe on the Colorado River in Arizona, California, and Nevada. Launched on 20 June 1914; and placed in service at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton, Washington

Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...

, on 2 December 1914.

Assigned to the Puget Sound Navy Yard the same day, Mohave operated in the Bremerton‑Seattle area and off the coast of Washington on various towing assignments into 1918. Because of the desperate need created by World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 for sea‑going tugs in the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, she was detached from Puget Sound Navy Yard 6 February 1918 and sailed ten days later for the east coast

East Coast of the United States

The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...

. Steaming via Mare Island

Mare Island

Mare Island is a peninsula in the United States alongside the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the east side of San Pablo Bay. Mare Island is considered a peninsula because no full...

 and 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...

, various Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 ports, 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...

, and Key West, Florida

Key West, Florida

Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...

, the ship reached Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, on 29 April, and following operations along the east coast and two towing voyages to Bermuda

Bermuda

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...

, was temporarily assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) on 6 August.

Mohave towed coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

 barge

Barge

A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...

s from Norfolk to New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 ports until after the Armistice in November 1918

Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)

The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...

, and was then detached from NOTS five days before Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 (20 December) and was assigned to the 5th Naval District. In 1919, she made two voyages to Bermuda and then operated in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 between Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, until returning to Norfolk via Key West and Charleston, S.C., on 15 December 1919. The next year, during which time she received the alphanumeric hull number AT-15 on 17 July 1920, Mohave served the fleet by towing coal and stores to Indian Head, Maryland

Indian Head, Maryland

Indian Head is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,422 at the 2000 census. It has been the site of a naval base specializing in gun and rocket propellants since 1890. Production of nitrocellulose and smokeless powder began at the Indian Head Powder Factory in 1900...

, and making brief voyages to Charleston and New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. On 18 March 1921, she was transferred to the 1st Naval District. Based out of Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

, the tug pulled and pushed her barges to ports all along the New England coast, making frequent trips to Portsmouth, N.H., Newport, R.I., and numerous Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

 ports over the next seven years.

In early January 1928, Mohave towed a large oil barge to Provincetown, Mass., to be unloaded, and then sailed on 12 February to return to Boston, with the empty lighter in tow. Steaming at 9 knots in heavy seas, Mohave ran aground in Massachusetts Bay

Massachusetts Bay

The Massachusetts Bay, also called Mass Bay, is one of the largest bays of the Atlantic Ocean which forms the distinctive shape of the coastline of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Its waters extend 65 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts Bay includes the Boston Harbor, Dorchester Bay,...

 on Harding Ledge42°18′18"N 70°50′52"W near Nantasket, Massachusetts

Nantasket Beach

Nantasket Beach is a beach in Hull, Massachusetts. The shore has fine, light gray sand and is one of the busiest beaches in Greater Boston. At low tide, there are acres of tide pools.-Name:...

, on 13 February, and took a heavy list forward. Her holds and engine room flooded, and her crew abandoned ship; tragically, three enlisted men took possession of a punt

Punt (boat)

A punt is a flat-bottomed boat with a square-cut bow, designed for use in small rivers or other shallow water. Punting refers to boating in a punt. The punter generally propels the punt by pushing against the river bed with a pole...

, without first having obtained permission to do so, and tried to reach the shore. "No trace has since been found," the Secretary of the Navy later wrote, "of either the punt or the [three men]." By 20 February, a storm had badly damaged the ship, causing a 60° list and destruction of her upper works. Found unfit for service on 29 March, the ship was sold as a hulk on 9 April.

Mohave was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

on 10 April 1928. The wreck is still on the reef as of 2006.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org