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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

USS Keosanqua (ATO-38)
ex
 USS Keosanqua (AT-38) (1920 - 1944)


Signal Letters/International Radio Call Sign,

Signal Letters 1912-1932
USS Keosanqua (AT-38)
Assigned in 1920 George - Jig - Love - King
 GJLK
International Radio Call Sign (IRCS)
USS Keosanqua (AT-38/ATO-38)
Assigned in 1928 Negative - Easy - Xray - Charlie
 NEXC
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - Combat Action Ribbon (Pearl Harbor) - American Defense Service Medal (with bronze star in lieu of Fleet clasp)
Bottom Row - American Campaign Medal - Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1) - World War II Victory Medal
Allegheny Class Fleet Tug:
  • Laid down at Staten Island Shipbuilding Co., Port Richmond, N.Y.
  • Launched, 26 February 1920
  • Commissioned USS Keosanqua (AT-38), 9 December 1920, at New York Navy Yard, LTjg. Grove F. Coulson, USN, in command
  • Decommissioned and laid up in reserve at Pearl Harbor, 8 June 1922
  • Recommissioned, 1 July 1934, at Pearl Harbor, LTjg. H. O. Parish, USN, in command
  • During World War II USS Keosanqua was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater and participated in the following campaign:

    Asiatic-Pacific Campaigns
    Campaign and Dates
    Pearl Harbor - Midway operation, 7 December 1941

  • Reclassified Fleet Tug Old (ATO-38), 15 May 1944
  • Decommissioned, 6 May 1946, at Seattle, WA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 7 February 1947
  • USS Keosanqua earned one battle star for World War II service.
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 11 July 1947 and sold the same day to Puget Sound Tug & Barge Co.
  • Resold in 1948 to Pacific Coyle Navigation Co., Vancouver B.C., renamed Edward J. Coyle
  • Renamed Commodore Strait in 1960
  • Final Disposition, scrapped in 1968
    Specifications:
    Displacement 795 t.(lt) 1,111 t.(fl)
    Length 156' 5"
    Beam 36' 6"
    Draft 15'
    Speed 12 kts.
    Complement
    Officers 5
    Enlisted 56
    Largest Boom Capacity 5 t.
    Armament
    two single 3" guns
    two machine guns
    Fuel Capacity
    NSFO 1,800 bbls
    Propulsion
    one Staten Island Shipbuilding Co. vertical triple expansion steam engine
    two Scotch single end boiler, 200psi Sat°
    two turbo-drive 25kw 120V D.C. Ship's Service Generators
    single propeller, 1,800 shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Keosanqua (AT-38)
    Keosanqua 40k USS Keosanqua (AT-38) underway, circa 1930s at Pearl Harbor, T.H. Submitted by Craig Rothhammer to National
    Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Merchant Service
    Keosanqua 69k Ex-USS Keosanqua (AT-38) in merchant service as the Pacific Coyle Navigation Co. tug Edward J. Coyle underway, date and place unknown. Patricia (Coyle) McDonough
    Keosanqua 88k Pen and ink drawing of ex-Keosanqua (AT-38) in merchant service as the Pacific Coyle Navigation Co. tug Edward J. Coyle underway, date unknown. Patricia (Coyle) McDonough
    Keosanqua 137k Ex-Keosanqua (AT-38) in Canadian waters, circa 1848-1960. This tug escaped the postwar scrappers and served under the Canadian flag as Edward J. Coyle into 1960.
    US Naval History and Heritage Command, Photo No. NH 89195, courtesy Shipscribe.com.    		 Mike Green
    USS Keosanqua (AT-38 / ATO-38)
    Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LTjg. Coulson, Grove Flomoy, USN9 December 1920 - 11 January 1921
    02CHBOSN. Carpenter, William Charles11 January 1921 - 8 June 1922
     Decommissioned8 June 1922 - 1 July 1934
    03LTjg. Parish, Herman Oliff (Hop), USN1 July 1934 - 26 July 1935
    04LT. Craven, Thomas, USN :RADM26 July 1935 - 5 September 1936
    04LT. Ayers, Truman Earl5 September 1936 - 1 June 1939
    05LCDR. Boltz, Philip M.June 1939 - 1942
    06LT. Neault, Norman George, USNR12 December 1942 - 7 September 1944
    07LTjg. Donovan, Frederick James, USNR7 September 1944 - 1 April 1945
    08LT. Tidd, Ira Milton, USN1 April 1945 - 8 May 1946
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
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    Last Updated 7 March 2025