USS Chowanoc

USS Chowanoc (ATF-100) was an Abnaki-class of fleet ocean tug. It was named after an Indian tribe of the same name.^[1]

Chowanoc (left) towing the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Philippine Sea circa 1958.
History
United States
Name	Chowanoc (ATF-100)
Builder	Charleston Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.
Laid down	unknown
Launched	20 August 1943
Commissioned	21 February 1944
Decommissioned	1 October 1977
Stricken	1 October 1977
Fate	Transferred to Ecuador, 1 October 1977
Ecuador
Name	BAE Chimborazo (RA-70)
Acquired	1 October 1977
Status	In service as of 2019
General characteristics
Class & type	Abnaki-class fleet ocean tug
Displacement	1,240 long tons (1,260 t)
Length	205 ft (62 m)
Beam	38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)
Draft	15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Speed	16.5 knots (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h)
Complement	85
Armament	1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun 2 × 20 mm guns
Service record
Part of:	Pacific Fleet
Commanders:	LT. Rodney F. Snipes
Operations:	World War II Korean War Vietnam War
Awards:	4 battle stars (World War II) 1 battle star (Korea) 7 battle stars (Vietnam)

Service history

World War 2:

Worked on the Marianas operation, with the Capture and occupation of Saipan from 3 to 10 August 1944. worked on the capture and occupation of Guam from 3 to 15 August 1944. Working on the Luzon operation in the Lingayen Gulf landings from 9 to 18 January 1945. Worked on the Leyte operation in the Leyte landings from 20 to 22 November 1944.

Korean War: Worked in Korean in the 1952 and 1953.

Vietnam War: Worked in the Vietnamese Counteroffensive from 9 to 12 April 1966. Worked in the Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase II from 28 July to 1 August 1966. Worked in the Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase V from 8 to 10 October 1968. Worked in the Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VI from 10 to 17 November 1968, 29 November to 5 December 1968 and 12 December 1968 to 11 January 1969. Serviced in the Vietnamese Counteroffensive - Phase VII from 19 to 22 May 1971, 7 to 23January 1973 and 21 February to 21 March 1973.

Chowanoc was sold to the Ecuadorian Navy on 1 October 1977 under the Security Assistance Program and renamed BAE Chimborazo (RA-70).

On 2 March 2020, Chimborazo was quarantined for two weeks at Guayaquil South Naval Base after a member of its 50-person crew was discovered to have been in contact with someone infected with COVID-19.^[2]

Notable personnel

• Richard Benjamin Harrison served on the ship from 1972 to 1976.^[3]