USS Tekesta (AT-93) - End-of-War Operations

End-of-War Operations

Tekesta remained in the Marianas four days before continuing on to Leyte. She arrived in Leyte Gulf on 4 August and was operating there with Service Squadron 10 when hostilities ceased on the 15th. On the 30th, she put to sea with the first echelon of the Korean Service Group. After stopping at Okinawa on 2 September, she reached Jinsen, Korea, on the 7th. For the next seven months, Tekesta operated with the occupation forces in Korea and northern China. During that time, she visited Hong Kong and Shanghai. On 9 April 1946, the tug exited Hong Kong harbor. She stopped in the Philippine Islands at Samar, from 13 April to 20 April; touched at Okinawa on the 23rd; and reached Sasebo, Japan, early in May. On the llth, she returned to Shanghai. Later in the month, she visited Subic Bay before returning to China for three more months of duty.

On 23 August, the tug cleared Tsingtao to return to the United States. After stops at Samar, Guam, Kwajalein, and Pearl Harbor, Tekesta entered port at San Francisco, California, on 12 November. For the following seven months, she was engaged in normal towing and salvage operations along the U.S. West Coast, ranging from San Francisco as far south as the Panama Canal. On 16 June 1947, she departed San Francisco and headed north. After stopovers at Bremerton and Seattle, Washington, she arrived at Kodiak, Alaska, for a year of duty in the Aleutians area. During that period, she called at Dutch Harbor, Fort Glenn, Attu, Adak, Amchitka, and various other ports of call in Alaska and along the Aleutians chain.

On 28 June 1948, Tekesta returned to San Francisco and resumed operations along the California coast until early November. On the 4th, she headed west once more. She called at Pearl Harbor and Midway Island before reaching Yokosuka, Japan, on the 30th. In January, she shifted to Tsingtao, China, and operated there until early in March. Tekesta departed China on 10 March, visited Okinawa from the 14th to the 18th, and returned to Tsingtao on the 21st. She reentered Yokosuka on 7 April and operated from that port for two months before beginning her return voyage to the United States. Stopping at Wake Island and Pearl Harbor along the way, the tug put into San Francisco on 24 July 1949.

Operating from her base at Long Beach, California, Tekesta made four voyages to the Panama Canal Zone between July 1949 and April 1950. She also carried passengers to nearby ports. She entered Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 4 April 1950 for inactivation. Six days later, she was towed to San Diego, California. There, she was placed out of commission on the 14th and berthed with the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.