USS Tonkawa ( ATA - 176 ) USS " ATA - 176 was an built for the United States Navy during World War II . She was laid down on 30 January 1944 and launched on 1 March as USS " ATR - 103 , but was re - designated " ATA - 176 " on 15 May . She was commissioned as USS " ATA - 176 " on 19 August . She served in the U . S . Pacific Fleet during the war and was decommissioned on 30 June 1947 . She was then manned with a civilian crew and placed in service , being renamed USNS " Tonkawa " ( T - ATA - 176 ) on 16 July 1948 . " Tonkawa " , the first U . S . Navy vessel named for the Tonkawa , was taken out of service in 1956 and placed in reserve . " Tonkawa " was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 August 1961 , and transferred to the Republic of China in April 1962 . In the service of the Republic of China Navy , she was renamed ROCS " Ta Sueh " ( ATA - 547 ) . Her fate in Chinese service is not reported in secondary source s . Career . The first Tonkawa to bear the name , she was laid down as " ATR - 103 " on 30 January 1944 at Orange , Texas , by the Levingston Shipbuilding Co . ; launched on 1 March 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . R . F . Parker ; redesignated " ATA - 176 " on 15 May 1944 ; and commissioned on 19 August 1944 , Lt . ( jg . ) Ralph T . Crane , USNR , in command . After a brief shakedown cruise in the Gulf of Mexico , the auxiliary ocean tug stood out of Galveston , Texas , on 22 September bound , via Miami , Florida , for the Panama Canal Zone . She arrived at Colon on 4 October and departed Balboa on the 20th for the South Pacific Ocean . " ATA - 176 " called at Borabora and Manus before anchoring in Milne Bay , New Guinea , on 20 December . Assigned to the Service Force , Pacific Fleet , the tug got underway on 30 December 1944 for Hollandia and arrived on 5 January 1945 . She took " Etamin " ( IX - 173 ) in tow and sortied with a convoy for the Philippines on the 10th . She arrived at San Pedro Bay on the 22d and returned to $ 3 on 12 February . During the next eight months , " ATA - 176 " operated between ports in New Guinea , Emirau , Morotai , Borneo , and various Philippine islands . On 20 October 1945 , the auxiliary tug stood out of Manila to search for a U . S . Army barge that had been reported adrift to the northwest . She found the barge on the 26th and towed it to Okinawa . " ATA - 176 " then returned to Manila Bay on 5 November 1945 . After operations in the Philippines , she called at Guam in April 1946 and left Apra Harbor on 2 May towing to Midway Island . She delivered her charge there on the 15th and headed for the United States . The tug arrived at San Francisco , California , on 1 June and remained at the Naval Supply Depot , Oakland , California , with a crew supplied by the 12th Naval District until 30 June 1947 . On that day , " ATA - 176 " was decommissioned and placed " in service , " manned by a civilian crew . On 16 July 1948 , the ship was given the name " Tonkawa " , becoming the first U . S . Navy vessels named after the Tonkawa . " Towkawa " served in the 12th Naval District until 8 May 1956 when she was placed out of service , in reserve . " Tonkawa " was struck from the Navy list on 1 August 1961 . She was transferred to Taiwan in April 1962 under the Security Assistance Program ( SAP ) and renamed ROCS " Ta Sueh " ( ATA - 547 ) . Her final fate is not known .