Cahuilla (ATF-152)
A Native American tribe of southeastern California.
(ATF-152: displacement 1,675 (limiting); length 205'0" (overall); beam 38'6"; draft 15'4" (limiting); speed 16.5 knots (trial); complement 85; armament 1 3-inch, 2 40 millimeter, 6 .50 caliber machine guns; class Cherokee)
Cahuilla (ATF-152) was laid down on 16 June 1944 at Charleston, S.C., by the Charleston Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co.; launched on 2 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. W. V. Ballew; and commissioned on 10 March 1945, Lt. A. C. Schoelpple in command.
Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, Cahuilla first served the Navy as an antisubmarine attack teacher at Norfolk, Va. From there she sailed on 18 April 1945 towing the cargo ship Pegasus (AK-48) for Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. After delivering her tow on 24 May, the fleet tug sailed for Guam, where she took a string of pontoon barges in tow for Okinawa.
From 26 July to 6 August 1945, Cahuilla escorted convoys and served as rescue tug for the ships passing through the dangerous waters off Okinawa, subject to the desperate suicide attacks of Japanese aircraft., the dreaded kamikazes. The end of the war found Cahuilla at sea, bound for salvage operations at Eniwetok, from which she returned to take part in the occupation of Nagasaki, Japan, until 16 October. From that time she was based on Okinawa for rescue and tow operations until 14 February 1946.
Cahuilla continued to provide towing service to fleet units, and rescue work to naval and merchant ships, calling at Pearl Harbor, Kwajalein, and ports of the west coast and Panama Canal Zone until January 1947. She was decommissioned at San Diego, Calif., on 27 June 1947 and placed in reserve.
Cahuilla was transferred to Argentina on 9 July 1961, she served as Comandante General Irigoyen.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
16 May 2024
