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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Keshena (YTM-731)
ex
 Keshena (YNT-5) (1942 - 1945)
 Keshena (YN-37) (1940 - 1942)

International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Xray - Whiskey
 NEXW
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from left to right
American Defense Service Medal - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
2 men were lost in Keshena's sinking and remain on duty
Yard Net Tender:
  • Built by Gulfport Boiler & Welding Works, Port Arthur TX (YN 131)
  • Laid down as the tug General
  • Completed for Card Towing Line, New York, NY, as Raymond Card (ON 239098), 07 September 1939
  • Purchased by the Navy from Card Towing, 20 September 1940
  • Placed in service as Yard Net Tender Keshena (YN-37), 19 October 1940
  • Initially assigned to the Fifth Naval District
  • Sunk by mine off Ocracoke Inlet, NC, while engaged in salvage operations on the torpedoed tanker J.A. Mowinckel,19 July 1942
  • Two crew lost, fifteen rescued, later salvaged and repaired
  • Assigned to the Tenth Naval District at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, 09 November 1942
  • Reclassified Yard Net Tender Tug YNT-5, 01 May 1942
  • Reclassified Harbor Tug Medium YTM-731, 04 August 1945
  • Placed out of service and struck from the Naval Register, 28 August 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal, 12 February 1947
  • Regsitered to Card Towing Line, renamed Mary L. McAllister, 1947
  • Chartered to McAllister Brothers, 1947 - 1950
  • Sold outright to McAllister, 1950
  • Registered to North American Towing, Duluth, MN, renamed Seneca, 1981
  • Registered to Billington Contracting, Duluth, MN, 1991
  • Registered to Zenith Towing, Duluth, MN, 2000
  • Towline snapped in bad weather while under tow of tug Susan Hoey on Lake Superior, 02 December 2006
  • Drifted ashore 18 miles east of Grand Marais, MI, 03 December 2006
  • Salvaged and towed to Sault Ste. Marie, MI, late December 2006
  • Sold to private citizen in Sault Ste. Marie, ON, and converted to liveaboard, 2007
  • Final disposition, still extant, 2025
    Specifications:
    Displacement 132 tons, 49 net tons
    Length 88' 7" waterline, 93' 0" overall
    Beam 22' 0"
    Draft 9' 4"
    Speed unknown
    Complement unknown
    Armament unknown
    Propulsion
    one EMD 12-567(U) 12-cylinder diesel
    single propeller, 750shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Keshena
    141173103    		 64k Tug Mary L. McAllister, moored at a Norfolk pier, date unknown.
    Photo courtesy Harold E. Tartell, via tugboatinformation.com.    		 Robert Hurst
    Keshena
    141173104    		 138k Tug Mary L. McAllister underway, probabvly on Delaware River, date unknown.
    Photo copyright Dave Boone    		 Dave Wright
    Keshena
    141173105    		 539k Tug Mary L. McAllister approaching Lock 1 on the Welland Canal, St. Catharine's, Ontario, July 1981.
    Photo copyright Terry McCullough, Sarnia, Ontario    		 Dave Wright
    Keshena
    141173101    		 65k As Zenith Towing's tug Seneca at Duluth, date unknown Courtesy Paul Smith, US Navy Harbor Tugs
    Keshena
    141173102    		 64k
    Keshena
    141173106    		 353k Undated image of Seneca in a typical wintry Great Lakes setting.
    Photo copyright Franz A. von Riedel    		 Dave Wright
    Keshena (YN-37 / YNT-5 / YTM-731)
    DANFS history entry located at the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back to The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Yard and District Craft Photo Index Back To The District Craft Net Tenders (YN / YNT) Photo Index Back To The District Harbor Tug Medium (YTM) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster.
    This page was created by Gary P. Priolo and is maintained by David L. Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 15 December 2025