USS Achigan (YTB-218)

USS Achigan (YTB-218) alongside an unidentified ship, date and location unknown. US Navy photo for the US Navy Memorial collection.
History
Name:	USS Achigan
Builder:	W. A. Robinson, Ipswich, Massachusetts
Laid down:	23 July 1944
Launched:	4 October 1944
In service:	9 January 1945
Out of service:	1957
Reclassified:	YTB-218, 15 May 1944
Fate:	Fate unknown
General characteristics
Class & type:	Cahto-class district harbor tug
Displacement:	410 long tons (417 t)
Length:	110 ft 0 in (33.53 m)
Beam:	27 ft 0 in (8.23 m)
Draft:	11 ft 4 in (3.45 m)
Speed:	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	12
Armament:	2 × .50-caliber machine guns

USS Achigan (YT-218/YTB-218) was a Cahto-class large harbor tug in the service of the United States Navy. A French-Canadian rendering of the word ashigan which, in Chippewa and Algonquin dialects, is the name of the small mouth bass.

She was laid down as Achigan (YT-218) on 23 July 1943 at Ipswich, Massachusetts by W. A. Robinson, reclassified YTB-218 on 15 May 1944, launched on 4 October 1944, and placed in service on 9 January 1945.

Service history

Assigned to the 4th Naval District, Achigan spent most of her naval career at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. On the afternoon of 8 January 1946, she sank at Philadelphia as a result of a collision with General J. C. Breckinridge (AP-176). Later salvaged, the tug returned to service at Philadelphia in mid-1947. Achigan served there until the summer of 1956 when she was transferred to the 6th Naval District. The meager record of her service indicates that the tug served in the 6th Naval District into 1957 and was disposed of later that year.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.