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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Wandank (ATO-26)
ex
 USS Wandank (AT-26) (1920 - 1944)
 USS Wandank (Fleet Tug # 26) (1920)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Alpha - Romeo - Foxtrot
 NARF
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Defense Service Medal (with bronze star in lieu of Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Algorma Class Fleet Tug:
  • Laid down, 7 April 1919, at Ferguson Steel & Iron Co., Buffalo, N.Y.
  • Launched, 21 October 1919
  • Commissioned, USS Wandank (Fleet Tug # 26), 23 March 1920, BOSN O. Rogers, in temporary command
  • Redesignated (AT-26), 17 July 1920
  • Decommissioned, 31 March 1922
  • Recommissioned, 8 May 1922
  • Reclassified Fleet Tug, Old (ATO-26), 15 May 1944
  • Decommissioned, 20 September 1946
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 13 November 1946
  • Sold for merchant service, delivered to W. A. Bisso, New Orleans, 20 September 1945. Ex-Wandank served the New Orleans Coal and Bisso Towboat Co. as W. A. Bisso until 1971
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 998 t.(lt)
    Length 157' 8"
    Beam 34' 8"
    Draft 14' 7"
    Speed 12.8 kts. (trial)
    Complement
    5 Officers
    56 enlisted
    Largest Boom Capacity 5 t.
    Armament one machine gun
    Fuel Capacity
    NSFO 2,050 Bbls
    Propulsion
    one Globe Iron Works vertical triple-expansion steam engine
    two Babcock and Wilcox header-type boilers 200psi Sat°
    two turbo-drive 25Kw 120V. D.C. Ship's service generators
    single propeller, 1,800shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Wandank 106k USS Wandank (AT-26) moored pierside at Boston Navy Yard, circa late 1920s or early 1930s. USS Constitution is on the opposite side of the pier.
    US Navy photo NH 43681    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Wandank 177k USS Wandank (AT-26) underway probably in Boston harbor, circa May 1939, while towing two salvage pontoons during the USS Squalus (SS-192) rescue and recovery operation.
    US Navy photo.    		 Jim Kurrasch
    Battleship Iowa Pacific Battleship Center
    Falcon 82k USS Wandank (AT-26) left, and USS Falcon (ASR-2) moored over the sunken USS Squalus (SS-192) during rescue operations, circa 24 May 1939. The McCann Rescue Chamber, which brought 33 of Squalus's crew to safety, is visible on Falcon's after deck.
    US Navy Photo NH57508    		 US Navy Historical Center
    Wandank 124k Men from the submarine rescue ship USS Falcon (ASR-2) working on salvage pontoons, during the effort to raise USS Squalus (SS-192) from the sea bottom off the New Hampshire coast in the Summer of 1939. The larger of the two tugs at right is USS Wandank (AT-26).
    US Navy Photo USN 1149021    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Wandank 94k View taken from USS Falcon (ASR-2), 12 August 1939, after USS Squalus (SS-192) had been lifted off the sea bottom and was being towed to shallower water, supported by salvage pontoons. USS Wandank (AT-26) and a smaller tug (probably Penacook (YT-6)) are towing, while Falcon acted as restraining ship. There are groups of three pontoons each visible on the surface at the submerged submarine's bow and stern. One more pontoon was underwater at the bow and three more at the stern.
    US Navy Photo NH 57509    		 US Naval Historical Center
    Wandank 73k USS Wandank (AT-26) moored pierside, circa 1920s or 1930s
    US Navy photo NH 83939, Courtesy, Donald M. McPherson, 1975.    		 US Naval Historical Center
    USS Wandank (AT-26 / ATO-26)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01BOSN. Rogers, Orrin, USN (temp CO)23 March 1920 - 20 August 1920
    02LT. Drellishak, Stephen J., USN20 August 1920 - 11 January 1922
     Decommissioned31 March 1922 - 8 May 1922
    03LT. Lobaugh, William Beattie, USN31 March 1939 - 29 May 1939
    04LT. Purves, Stuart St.Claire, USN, (USNA 1921)29 May 1939 - August 1939
    05LCDR. Silvernail, Frederick Judson, USNAugust 1939 - August 1941
    06LT. Dineen, Arthur Francis, USNAugust 1941 - October 1942
    07LTjg. Trimble, James Hayes, USNOctober 1942 - October 1944
    09LT. Kiser, Harry Edward, USNOctober 1944 - July 1945
    10LTjg. Hobart, Marvin Gregory, USNJuly 1945 - November 1945
    11LTjg. Mazoway, Louis Alexander, USNNovember 1945 - September 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back To the Main Photo Index Back To the Service Ship Photo Index Back To the Fleet Tug Old Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 13 September 2019