USS Wateree ( ATA - 174 ) USS " Wateree " ( ATA - 174 ) , the third ship named , was a in the service of the United States Navy during World War II . She later served with the Military Sea Transportation Service and the Peruvian Navy . Construction and commissioning . The ship was laid down on 5 October 1943 at Orange , Texas by the Levingston Shipbuilding Co . as the unnamed rescue tug ATR - 101 . She was launched on 18 November 1943 , redesignated as auxiliary ocean tug ATA - 174 , and commissioned on 20 July 1944 , Lt . A . J . Vetro in command . World War II service . " ATA - 174 " departed Orange on 4 August and arrived in Norfolk , Virginia on the 11th . Over the next 10 days , she conducted shakedown training in the Chesapeake Bay and then underwent an eight - day , post - shakedown repair period before heading for New York on 2 September . The tug remained at Staten Island for five days and then took departure for the Panama Canal with three open lighters in tow . She made an unscheduled three - day stop in mid - September to evade a hurricane but finally arrived in Cristóbal on 26 September . On the 27th , she transited the canal and reported to the Pacific Fleet for duty . The tug departed Balboa on 10 October towing " YC - 1131 " and " YC - 1137 " to San Diego , arriving on 26 October after a voyage complicated by a steering control failure . Following repairs at San Diego , the ship moved north to San Pedro , California making the voyage on 10 and 11 November . She remained there until 19 November when she took the three open lighters in tow and set a course for Pearl Harbor . The tug arrived in Pearl Harbor on 3 December , remained there for 10 days , and then got underway for the Marshall Islands on 13 December . After a 16 - day voyage plagued by mishaps in her main propulsion plant , the tug arrived at Eniwetok Atoll on 29 December . Between 1 and 3 January 1945 , she towed " YSR - 4 " from Eniwetok to Kwajalein and , after a six - day stopover , continued on to Manus Island where she arrived on 18 January . On 22 January 1945 , she stood out to sea from Manus and set a course for Nouméa , New Caledonia . En route , however , she received orders diverting her to Guadalcanal . The tug arrived at her new destination on 26 January . She served in the southern Solomon Islands for almost two months . Early in February , she conducted diving operations on the sunken wreck of during the investigation of her explosion and sinking . In mid - February , she salvaged six bulldozers from 110 feet of water off Lunga Point . Later , she pulled two grounded submarine chasers off reefs in Skylark Channel . She concluded her duty at Guadalcanal on 22 March when she took " ARD - 18 " in tow for Hollandia , New Guinea . She stopped at Hollandia from 30 March to 2 April and then continued towing " ARD - 18 " to Ulithi where she arrived on 7 April . After an overnight stop , the tug departed on the 8th and set a course for Manus . She reached Manus on 12 April but departed again the next day . The ship made Guadalcanal on the 17th and remained two days . From there , she voyaged via Espiritu Santo to Tutuila , Samoa , arriving at the latter island on 27 April . She made emergency repairs until 1 May on which day she shaped a course for the Russell Island subgroup of the Solomons with " AFD - 20 " in tow . In the Russells , she added a pontoon barge to the tow and continued on to Manus where she arrived on 20 May . On the 24th , ATA - 174 resumed her voyage , this time to Leyte in the Philippines where she arrived on 2 June . The tug remained at Leyte for 15 days and then got underway for Guadalcanal on the 17th . She reached her destination on 27 June but departed again the next day towing via Tulagi to Leyte . After a stop in the Russell Islands and another at Manus , she and her charge arrived in San Pedro Bay on 19 July . On the 23rd , the tug left Leyte and set sail for Espiritu Santo where , after a diversion back to the Russell Islands , she arrived on 10 August . The tug remained at Espiritu Santo until 14 August when she set sail to return to Leyte with " YC - 812 " and " YF - 366 " in tow . She arrived in Leyte on 29 August , delivered her charges , and remained there for a little over a week . On 8 September , the tug headed back to the Solomons by way of Manus . She arrived at Guadalcanal on the 19th and began duty as an air - sea rescue vessel , also towing diesel fuel barges between Tulagi and the Russells . That assignment lasted a little more than a month . On 26 October , she took a former LST in tow for Leyte and arrived there on 8 November . She departed Leyte 11 days later and , after stops at Eniwetok and Pearl Harbor , arrived in San Francisco on 1 January 1946 . For the next month , the tug operated along the west coast , visiting San Diego , Astoria , Oregon , Portland , Oregon , and Seattle , Washington . On 18 February 1946 , she reported for duty at the naval station at Astoria . Decommissioning , MSTS service , and disposal . After almost 9 months of active service with the Columbia River Group , Pacific Reserve Fleet , she was placed out of commission on 16 January 1947 . Berthed with the Columbia River Group , she remained inactive at Astoria until the summer of 1953 . During that period , she received the name Wateree on 16 July 1948 . On 2 June 1953 , she departed Astoria to be transferred to the Commandant , 13th Naval District , who in turn transferred her to the Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) for duty in Alaskan waters . She was placed in service on 13 August 1953 and served with the MSTS in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest until the spring of 1955 . On 14 March 1955 , " Wateree " rejoined the Columbia River Group . She remained inactive until 27 July 1961 at which time she was sold to Peru and renamed BAP " Unanue " ( AMB - 136 ) . She was disposed of by the Peruvian Navy in 1977 - 78 .