USS Ontario (AT-13)
Encyclopedia
The third USS Ontario (AT–13), a single screw seagoing 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...
, was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding
New York Shipbuilding
The New York Shipbuilding Corporation was founded in 1899 and opened its first shipyard in 1900. Located in Camden, New Jersey on the east shore of the Delaware River, New York Ship built more than 500 vessels for the U.S...
Company, Camden, New Jersey
Camden, New Jersey
The city of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 77,344...
on 23 November 1911, launched on 11 April 1912, and commissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 4 September 1912, Chief Boatswain S. M. McCarthy in command.
World War I
The finest development in naval tugboats up to that time, Ontario served as part of the Atlantic Fleet for the first five years following commissioning. The ship operated all along the Atlantic Coast and in the CaribbeanCaribbean
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...
in support of Fleet exercises and did auxiliary work in various ports and naval stations. When the United States entered 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...
in April 1917, the tugboat steamed along the East Coast laying anti-submarine nets and patrolling against minefields from Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth, Virginia
Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...
, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire in the United States. It is the largest city but only the fourth-largest community in the county, with a population of 21,233 at the 2010 census...
and towed barges of essential war supplies to New England ports. From 24 December 1917 to 2 January 1918, Ontario helped rescue grounded freighter Matanzas, an ammunition filled merchantman in danger of breaking up off Halifax, Nova Scotia
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
and then returned to towing and netlaying duties.
Interwar period
The tugboat sailed for Queenstown, IrelandCobh
Cobh is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Ireland. Cobh is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour. Facing the town are Spike Island and Haulbowline Island...
in late summer 1918, and joined the Atlantic Fleet Mine Force, patrolling off Daunt Rock Light Vessel, on guard against enemy submarines until after the Armistice
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...
. She then engaged in patrol work out of Ireland, England, the Azores, Portugal, and Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
into 1920 as part of Subchaser Detachment 2, U.S. Naval Forces in European Waters, removing remnants of the Great War's minefields. The ship sailed for American Samoa
American Samoa
American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...
for duty as station ship, rescue vessel, Governor’s yacht, transport, and the flagship of the United States Navy in Samoa in mid-1920.
For the next two decades, aside from regular yard periods at 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...
for repairs, Ontario operated out of the United States Naval Station Tutuila
United States Naval Station Tutuila
United States Naval Station Tutuila was a naval station in Pago Pago Harbor on the island of Tutuila, part of American Samoa, built in 1899 and in operation until 1951. During the United States Navy rule of American Samoa, from 1900 to 1951, it was customary for the commandant of the station to...
in her diverse but useful capacity, becoming a legend to Samoa's young men who were encouraged to join the Navy because of her presence.
World War II
On 3 January 1941, the tug sailed for Pearl Harbor for a yard period and remained there throughout the rest of the year while she was converted from coal to oil. When the Japanese attacked Pearl, on 7 December 1941Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
, the ship went into action with her two machine guns and was credited with downing one enemy plane. She next operated on auxiliary service to the Fleet out of Pearl Harbor into late 1943 and then joined Service Squadron 2 for duty with that force at advanced bases in the invasions of the Ellice, Gilbert, and Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. From October 1944 to August 1945, the ship served as yard tug at Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
supplying the amphibious and fast carrier task forces with barge towing and other varied services during the busiest periods of the war, taking time out only to lay anchor buoys for ships along the coast of Peleliu
Peleliu
Peleliu is an island in the island nation of Palau. Peleliu forms, along with two small islands to its northeast, one of the sixteen states of Palau. It is located northeast of Angaur and southwest of Koror....
in November–December 1944.
Ontario departed Ulithi for Eniwetok
Enewetak
Enewetak Atoll is a large coral atoll of 40 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area totals less than , surrounding a deep central lagoon, in circumference...
at the end of August 1945, sailing thence to Pearl Harbor and finally San Diego with two storm damaged patrol boats in tow. The old tug arrived back in the United States for the first time in 25 years on 21 December 1945 and was immediately assigned to duty as yard tug at Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
until decommissioned on 3 June 1946. She was struck 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 19 June 1946 and sold to Floyd Harrington, Wilmington, California on 4 April 1947.
Honors
A veteran of two world wars and the long peace between, Ontario received 1 battle starService star
A service star, also referred to as a battle star, campaign star, or engagement star, is an attachment to a United States military decoration which denotes participation in military campaigns or multiple bestowals of the same award. Service stars are typically issued for campaign medals, service...
for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
service.