USS Cocopa ( ATF - 101 ) USS " Cocopa " ( ATF - 101 ) was an " Abnaki " class fleet ocean tug that served on active duty with the U . S . Navy from 1944 to 1978 , seeing action in World War II , the Korean War and the Vietnam War . After thirty - four years of service , she was sold to the Mexican Navy , where she continues in service to this day ( 2009 ) . World War II . " Cocopa " was named after an Arizona Indian tribe . She began her naval career with the Atlantic fleet during the waning months of World War II , making two passages across the Atlantic with barges in tow , followed by a third passage to Trinidad . " Cocopa " was next ordered to the Pacific theater , witnessing the final days of the war between July and August of that year . V - J day found the ship in Leyte , Philippines . Interwar service . Following World War II , " Cocopa " shuttled between the Philippines , Shanghai , Okinawa and Hong Kong on occupation duty , before returning to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in January 1947 for an overhaul . In June 1951 , " Cocopa " accepted what some writers have termed the last Japan ese surrender from World War II , when LTC James B . Johnson accepted the capitulation of nineteen Japanese soldiers who had been living on the island of Anatahan , in the Northern Mariana Islands . The ship repatriated these men and their personal effects to Guam , from whence they were ultimately returned to Japan . However , other Japanese holdouts continued to surrender over the next few decades , though in much smaller numbers . Korean War . Returning to Pacific ocean service , The " Cocopa " saw action in the Korean War during the summer of 1953 . During this period she served off both Korean coasts ; in one operation , she towed the HMCS " Huron " , a Canadian destroyer that had run aground on the island of Pang Yang - Do , just off the North Korean coast well north of enemy - held Wonsan harbor . At the time of the armistice , she went to Wonsan to aid in the removal of a Marine garrison occupying a small islet at the harbor ' s mouth . During the Korean War , the USS " Cocopa " received one battle star for her service . Operation Castle . In March 1954 , " Cocopa " was one of the ships tasked to support Operation Castle , a series of high - energy ( high - yield ) nuclear tests by Joint Task Force SEVEN ( JTF - 7 ) at Bikini Atoll . Official reports indicated that crewmembers suffered the highest doses ( 2 . 2 rem ) of radiation endured by any of the navy ships present at this operation . Vietnam War . During the Vietnam War , " Cocopa " would see service in five campaigns : " Advisory " ( 1963 ) , " Vietnam Defense " ( 1965 ) , " Counteroffensive Phase II " ( 1967 ) , " Summer - Fall 1969 " , and " Ceasefire " ( 1972 ) . In 1967 , " Cocopa " hosted Detachment Charlie of Beach Jumpers Unit One , Team Twelve , operating as the " Yankee Station Special Surveillance Unit " . This outfit consisted of one officer and five enlisted men , whose mission was to jam Soviet electronic intelligence trawler s monitoring U . S . operations in the Gulf of Tonkin . Team members utilized random wave jamming with noises ( including bagpipe recordings ) to counteract Russian SIGINT activities . " Cocopa " also assisted in towing , recovery and similar operations throughout her tours in Vietnam . Awards . " Cocopa " was awarded the appropriate service medal s for World War II ( including the American Campaign Medal , the European - African - Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the Asiatic - Pacific Campaign Medal ) , Korea and Vietnam . She was also awarded a battle star for her Korean service , and five campaign star s for her Vietnam service . She was also granted the Navy Occupation Service Medal , the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal , and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal . Mexican Navy service . In September 1978 , the " Cocopa " was decommissioned and sold to Mexico under the Security Assistance Program , where she was recomissioned in the Mexican Navy as the ARM " Seri " ( RE - 03 ) . As of 2009 the ship remains on active duty with that force .