USS Hoga (YT-146)

The USS "Hoga" (YT-146) was a United States Navy yard tug named after the Sioux Indian word for "fish." After World War II, the tug was known as the Port of Oakland and then the City of Oakland when it was a fireboat in that city.

Built by the Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation in Morris Heights, New York. Authorized on June 18, 1940. The keel was laid on July 25, 1940. Launched on December 31, 1940, the vessel was christened "Hoga" (YT-146). Commissioned at Norfolk, Virginia, May 22, 1941 and assigned to the 14th Naval District at Pearl Harbor. She made the trip there by way of the Panama Canal, San Diego, and San Pedro. [ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume III (Washington, D.C.: United States Navy, 1968) p. 342. ] At Pearl Harbor, she was berthed at the Yard Craft Dock and worked moving cargo lighters and assisting ships in and out of berths. Like other YTs, she carried firefighting equipment.

At Pearl Harbor

"Hoga" was moored with other yard service craft near the drydocks at 1010 Dock when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese forces on the morning of December 7, 1941. Ten of "Hoga"s eleven-man crew were aboard; the cook was ashore. As the planes swooped in over the harbor, Assistant Tugmaster Robert Brown, sleeping in the pilothouse, was awakened by the dropping bombs. "I raised up and looked out and all hell was breaking loose. I saw planes all over the place. Japanese planes and several ships on fire." [ Interview with Robert Brown, Garden Grove, California, by Paul C. Ditzel, November 20, 1988 ] Joseph B. McManus, the Tugmaster, was shaving in his cabin. "I heard the noise and I looked out the porthole...and the first sight I saw was the Oklahoma which had quite a list. She had been hit..... The Chief Engineer was standing on the dock and I heard him say, "My God! This is war!" [ Interview with Joseph B. McManus, El Cajon, California, by Paul C. Ditzel, November 22, 1988. ]

"Hoga" was underway within ten minutes of the first strike; "The only orders we got during the whole raid was to get underway and assist wherever we could...." [ Ibid ] Steaming out into the harbor, she picked up two men in the water, landed them on the deck, and proceeded to the burning ships along Battleship Row. At the end, lay the shattered hulk of USS|Arizona|BB-39. Moored to "Arizona" was the badly damaged repair ship USS|Vestal|AR-4. Throwing lines to the stricken repair ship, "Hoga" helped pull "Vestal" away from "Arizona" at 8:30 hours (military time is cited throughout this study). Pulling in the tow lines that had been chopped free by "Vestal"s panicked crew, "Hoga" ran to the assistance of the minelayer USS|Oglala|CM-4, flagship of Rear Admiral William Rea Furlong, commanding Minecraft, Battle Force. As she reached Oglala at 8:50 hours, "Hoga" was passed by the battleship USS|Nevada|BB-36, then making a run for the open sea.

As the first wave of planes struck at 7:50, "Nevada", moored near USS "Arizona", had partial steam up. At 8:03, the ship took a torpedo hit near frame 40 and began to list. Counterflooding kept "Nevada" from capsizing as her anti-aircraft batteries opened up on the attacking planes. The commanding officer, Captain F. W. Scanland, was not aboard; the senior officer was Lieutenant Commander J.F. Thomas, USNR. Thomas, aided by another junior officer, conned the ship away as burning oil from the destroyed "Arizona" began to threaten "Nevada". Just as the second wave of planes struck, the damaged "Nevada" got underway at 8:45, her officers hoping to escape the trap and run for the open sea through the narrow harbor entrance. The Japanese "recognized a golden double opportunity to sink a battleship and at the same time bottle up Pearl Harbor." [ Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981) pp. 515, 535-536. ] The planes concentrated their attack on "Nevada", which continued running, bombs crashing around her and on her forward deck and superstructure. At 9:07, a second "hail of bombs" rained on the ship, one striking the forecastle. By 9:10, "Nevada" was sinking, and she was grounded on Hospital Point to avoid going down in the channel.

Meanwhile "Hoga", with another vessel, was assisting "Oglala". Damaged by the detonation of a torpedo against the cruiser USS|Helena|CL-50, moored next to "Oglala", the listing minesweeper required towing to clear the field of fire for "Helena". As the sinking "Oglala" was moved aft of "Helena" by "Hoga", "Admiral Furlong saw the "Nevada" 'give quite a heave,' and reflected to himself 'Well...there she is in the channel and there is going to be trouble if that ship sinks in the channel.' So he sent the two tugs that had been assisting the "Oglala" to help nose the "Nevada" over toward Hospital Point." [ Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon, December 7, "Hoga" then worked with the other tug, YT-130, to pull the battleship free and move her to the western side of the harbor entrance, where by 10:45 she settled as "Hoga" poured water onto the burning deck and into the virtually destroyed forward section. [ Prange, et al., At Dawn We Slept...., pp. 535-536. ] Tied to the port bow, "Hoga" worked on a raging forecastle fire with the pilothouse monitor and four hose lines for over an hour before retiring.

From "Nevada", "Hoga" returned to Battleship Row, fighting fires on USS|Maryland|BB-46, USS|Tennessee|BB-43, and finally USS "Arizona". "Hoga" worked the "Arizona" fire from 16:00 hours on Sunday until 13:00 hours on Tuesday, December 9. "We didn't recover any bodies", said Assistant Tugmaster Brown, "We were not in a position to do that. We had more important work to do.... There were dead bodies on there. We could see [them] up on the mainmast." [ Interview with Robert Brown, op.cit. ] Following 72 continuous hours of firefighting, "Hoga" remained on active duty through the rest of the week, patrolling the harbor, assisting in body removal, and searching for Japanese submarines believed to be hiding in the harbor. [Logbook entries for "Hoga" (YT-146), December 7-10, 1941. Typescript courtesy of Joseph B. McManus, El Cajon, California. Hoga's original engineering log was kept aboard the vessel when she was transferred to Oakland. The log was stolen from the ship several years ago. Mr. McManus kept a copy of his typed submission of the tug's log as part of his after action report to CINCPAC.] The actions of the tug's skipper and crew did not go unrecognized. On February 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz, CINCPAC, commended McManus, his men, and their tug for a job well done:

"For distinguished service in line of your profession as Commanding Officer of the Navy Yard Tug "Hoga", and efficient action and disregard of your own personal safety during the attack.... When another ship was disabled and appeared to be out of control, with serious fires on the fore part of that ship, you moored your tug to her bow and assisted materially in extinguishing the fires. When it was determined that the damaged ship should be beached, as there was serious danger of her sinking in the channel, you assisted in the beaching operations in an outstanding manner. Furthermore, each member of the crew of the "Hoga" functioned in a most efficient manner and exhibited commendable disregard of personal danger throughout the operations". [ Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Aboard USS Nevada, to Chief Boatswain's Mate Joseph B. McManus, USN, "Commendation", February 2, 1941. Manuscript, courtesy of Joseph B. McManus, El Cajon, California.]

Following the Japanese attack, "Hoga", along with other yard tugs and support craft, was pressed into additional duty cleaning debris from the harbor and the salvage efforts that began immediately on the sunken and battle-damaged vessels. This effort continued through the war years; "Hoga" was an active participant in this as well as in the continuing function of Pearl Harbor as an active Navy Base with increased responsibilities and duties as the springboard for the eventual reconquest of occupied Pacific islands and territories and victory over Japan. During the war "Hoga" was redesignated as a YTB (Yard Tug, Large) on May 15, 1944. [ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume III (Washington, D.C.: United States Navy, 1968) p. 342. ] Salvage work and heavy duty continued after the war, but in 1948, "Hoga" was transferred on loan to the Port of Oakland for use as a fireboat through the efforts of Congressman George P. Miller.

Fireboat Service in Oakland

Oakland, one of the California's most active ports, surpassing her one-time rival San Francisco after the latter's nearly century-long reign as principal American port on the Pacific, was without municipal fireboat protection until the arrival of "Hoga". Heavy shipping of war material from the Oakland Army Base, an active part of the San Francisco Port of Embarkation, the presence of oil tankers calling at East Bay refineries, and the United States Naval Air Station at nearby Alameda contributed to the wartime significance of the port of Oakland. In April 1948, it was announced that Oakland would receive "Hoga" by loan from the Navy.

The arrangement between the Port of Oakland and the City Council by which the vessel was operated included Port-financed alterations to increase the pumping capacity from 4,000 to 10,000 gpm, a berth, new firehouse, and partial defrayment of the salaries of the crew. The City would operate and pay part of the fireboat crew's salaries. According to Mayor Joseph E. Smith, "by this arrangement Oakland will receive excellent fire protection along its valuable waterfront properties, and the cost of the service will be distributed between the City and the Port." [ Untitled press release, May 20, 1948, manuscript, Port of Oakland, California. ] Arriving in May, "Hoga" was brought by a Navy crew from Treasure Island to the Grove Street Pier in Oakland, where transfer papers were signed on May 28, 1948.

Reconditioned at a cost of $73,000 in 1948 by Pacific Coast Engineering Company at Pacific Drydock and Repair in Oakland, the fireboat, now christened "Port of Oakland" (later changed to "City of Oakland") entered service in July 1948: The fireboat is berthed at the foot of Broadway in Oakland, immediately adjacent to a firehouse from which she can draw her crew of seven hosemen and a Battalion Chief, and have them aboard within a very few minutes. A regularly licensed pilot and marine engineer continually man the fireboat. Under this arrangement the "Port of Oakland" can be fully manned and on her way at convert|14|kn|km/h speed almost immediately. [ "New Fireboat 'Port of Oakland'", (July 1948) Manuscript, Port of Oakland, California. ]

The day after formal commissioning, "Port of Oakland" was called into service to help combat a shipboard fire on the freighter "Hawaiian Rancher".

In her 40 year career as an Oakland fireboat, the vessel has combated numerous shipboard fires, waterfront blazes, rescued persons in the water, and served as a tour boat for President Jimmy Carter during a 35-minute tour of the port on July 3, 1980. One highlight of the President's visit was his playfully aiming of "City of Oakland"s bow monitor at the press boat. [ Ed Powell, "Guardian of the East Bay", Pacific Work Boat (December 1952); Port Progress: Port of Oakland News/Events (July 1980) pp. 3-7. Also see Port of Oakland, 60 Years: A Chronicle of Progress (Oakland: Oakland Board of Port Commissioners, 1987) pp. 13, 28; "Oakland Tribune", July 3, 1980, and "San Francisco Examiner", December 8, 1982. ] The fireboat was moved to a new berth at Jack London Square on December 7, 1982. The most recent adventure was responding to the burning tanker SS "Puerto Rican" in the rough seas outside the Golden Gate Bridge in 1984. The decline of large wooden warehouses and piers, better shipboard fire control, and the crowding of the harbor with smaller pleasure craft has limited the use of the fireboat, and the Port of Oakland, like other major ports, considered a smaller, more maneuverable vessel to meet the needs of the 21st century waterfront.

The ship was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.,citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/89001429.pdf National Register of Historic Places Registration: City of Oakland, ex-Hoga (YTB-146)] |557 KiB |author=James P. Delgado|date=January 5, 1989|publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/89001429.pdf Accompanying 11 photos, exterior and interior, from 1941, 1980, and 1988] |1.12 MiB ]

The City of Oakland returned the "Hoga" to the Navy in 1994 at Treasure Island, where it was subsequently moved to the Maritime Administration's Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. After several years of being available for donation, the Navy selected the City of North Little Rock, Arkansas among four other competing applications. A donation transfer contract was signed on July 29, 2005, whereupon ownership of "Hoga" transferred to the City of North Little Rock. As of October 2006, the removal of "Hoga" from Suisun Bay by the Museum was still pending.

As of September 2007, the National Park Service summary about the ship lists it at North Little Rock, Arkansas, but still also reports it is in Alameda County, which is in California.

References

*NVR|http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrservicecraft/details/YTM146.htm

External links

* [http://www.usshoga.com/hoga_time_line.htm Timeline of "Hoga"s actions during Pearl Harbor attack]