USS Arapaho ( ATF - 68 ) USS " Arapaho " ( AT - 68 / ATF - 68 ) was a " Navajo " - class fleet ocean tug which served the U . S . Navy during World War II with her towing services . She was assigned initially to support the U . S . Atlantic Fleet , and was eventually assigned to support Allied forces in the war zones of the Pacific Ocean , resulting in her crew returning home after the war with four battle stars to their credit . Launched in South Carolina . The second ship to be so named by the Navy , " Arapaho " ( AT - 68 ) was laid down on 8 November 1941 at Charleston , South Carolina , by the Charleston Shipbuilding & Dry - dock Company ; launched on 22 June 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs . Alice Posey Hatcher ; and commissioned on 20 January 1943 , Lt . E . H . Wootan in command . World War II service . East coast operations . The tug conducted her shakedown training in the vicinity of Key West , Florida , and returned to Norfolk , Virginia , to prepare for a transatlantic voyage . On 19 March , she sailed for Casablanca , Morocco . There , she took the torpedo - damaged attack cargo ship " Almaack " ( AKA - 10 ) in tow for the voyage back to the United States . She and her charge arrived back in Norfolk , Virginia , on 20 May . In mid - June , the tug moved south to search the Florida Strait for the submarine " R - 12 ( SS - 89 " ) , which had sunk as a result of battery explosions . After fruitlessly seeking this ship from 18 to 23 June , " Arapaho " set sail on 25 June — apparently from Key West , Florida — with a barge in tow on her way to Panama . She left the barge in the Panama Canal Zone and continued her voyage to San Diego , California , where she arrived on 15 July . Pacific Ocean operations . For the next three months , the tug conducted towing and salvage operations , first along the U . S . West Coast and then , from early in September , out of Pearl Harbor . On 16 October , " Arapaho " departed Hawaii with two supply lighters in tow , bound for the Ellice Islands . She reached Funafuti on 30 October and began heavy towing operations between the Ellice and Gilbert Islands . For a time , she served as an antisubmarine guard ship at recently captured Tarawa Atoll . On 4 December , " Arapaho " embarked 12 civilians who had been liberated from a Japanese internment camp on Makin and set sail — via Funafuti — for Pearl Harbor . From Funafuti , the tug steamed in company with aircraft carrier " Independence " ( CVL - 22 ) , severely damaged in the Gilbert Islands operation by an aerial torpedo . The ships arrived at Pearl Harbor on 18 December . " Arapaho " underwent repairs until near the end of the first week in January 1944 . On 6 January , she headed back to the Gilberts . Over the next five months , the tug was based successively at Tarawa and Majuro , though she made numerous tows to other islands in the Gilbert , Marshall , and Ellice groups . By 13 June , she had moved her base of operations to Eniwetok where she engaged in harbor duty and salvage work . On 3 July , " Arapaho " set a course for Pearl Harbor , which she reached on the 9th to begin a month of repairs . She returned to Eniwetok on 26 August and , except for a round - trip voyage to Guam , operated there until the second week in October . Ulithi operations . At that time , she put to sea towing auxiliary repair dock " ARD - 15 " and covered lighter ( self - propelled ) " YF - 786 " to Ulithi , Service Squadron ( ServRon ) 10 ' s new advanced base , and , following her arrival at that atoll , worked in and out of its lagoon engaged in harbor and salvage duties . Between 4 and 10 November , she assisted " Zuni " ( ATF - 95 ) in towing " Reno " ( CL - 96 ) into Ulithi . The light cruiser had been torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the San Bernardino Strait on the 3d . In December , the tug towed " Houston " ( CL - 81 ) from Ulithi to Manus in the Admiralty Islands . From there , she towed fuel barge " YO - 186 " to Kossol Passage in the Palau Islands . After towing " LST - 278 " to Guam in January 1945 , " Arapaho " returned to Ulithi on the 23d and began a major overhaul of her main propulsion plant . The ship completed repairs and returned to active duty on 18 March . Okinawa operations . She operated out of Ulithi until mid - June when she moved to Guam . From there , the tug headed for Okinawa on 5 July with auxiliary repair dock " ARD - 26 " in tow . " Arapaho " and the auxiliary repair dock arrived in Kerama Retto 10 days later . The tug remained at Okinawa until after the end of hostilities in mid - August . Late that month , she voyaged back to Guam to pick up " ARD - 21 " for tow to Okinawa . She returned to Kerama Retto with her charge on 7 September and resumed local towing duty . End - of - war decommissioning . That assignment continued until 9 November 1945 when she began the long journey back to the United States . She stopped at Pearl Harbor for a few days early in December and arrived in San Pedro , California , on 27th . " Arapaho " remained at San Pedro assigned to the inactive fleet awaiting inactivation overhaul for a little more than a year . On 8 and 9 January 1947 , she was towed to San Diego , California , where she was decommissioned on 15 January 1947 . She remained with the Pacific Reserve Fleet until July 1961 . On 1 July 1961 , her name was struck from the Navy list . Subsequent maritime career . On 10 July 1961 , she was transferred to the Argentine Navy , which commissioned her that same day as ARA " Comandante General Zapiola " . The tug remained active with the Argentine Navy until January 1976 when she ran aground in an Antarctic reef and was declared a total loss . Her crew was rescued by the Chilean patrol boat " Piloto Pardo " . Honors and awards . " Arapaho " ( ATF - 68 ) earned four battle stars during World War II .