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NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive

Challenge (YTM-126)
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 USS Challenge (YT-126) (1940 - 1944)
 USS Challenge (AT-59) (1925 - 1940)
 USS Challenge (SP-1015) (1918 - 1925)
 USS Defiance (SP-1015) (1918)


International Radio Call Sign:
November - Echo - Kilo - Sierra
 NEKS
Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons


Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row - World War I Victory Medal (with Patrol clasp)
Bottom Row - American Defense Service Medal (with Fleet clasp) - American Campaign Medal - World War II Victory Medal
Challenge Class Fleet Tug:
  • Built in 1889 as Defiance at J.H. Dialogue and Sons, Camden, N.J.
  • Acquired by the Navy from the Shipowners & Merchants Tugboat Co., San Francisco, CA., 13 June 1918
  • Commissioned, USS Defiance (SP-1015), 29 July 1918, LT. Micheal J. Downes, USNRF, in command
  • Renamed USS Challenge, 15 August 1918
  • Decommissioned and laid up in reserve, 13 May 1922, at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, WA.
  • Recommissioned and reclassified AT-59, 21 February 1925
  • Decommissioned, 29 November 1940 and placed in service as Challenge (AT-59)
  • Reclassified Yard Tug YT-126, 2 December 1940
  • Decommissioned and place in service as Medium Harbor Tug YTM-126, 13 April 1944
  • Placed out of service, 21 January 1946, at Kennyle, WA.
  • Struck from the Naval Register, 21 January 1946
  • Transferred to the Maritime Commission for disposal
  • Sold by the Maritime Commission, to Puget Sound Tug & Barge Co., Seattle, WA. for $2,100
  • Final Disposition, fate unknown
    Specifications:
    Displacement 346 t.
    Length 124'
    Beam 22' 2"
    Draft 19' 7"
    Speed 14 kts.
    Complement 31
    Armament 2 3-pdr
    Propulsion
    one oil burning steam engine, one aux. engine
    single propeller, 750shp
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Merchant Service
    Challenge 50k Civilian Tug Defiance in port, prior to entering Navy service.
    US Navy photo # NH 99965 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center     		Ramon Jackson
    USS Challenge (AT-59)
    Challenge 223k USS Challenge probably at San Diego, circa 1919 with the Pacific Station flagship cruiser USS Minneapolis (C13). John Chiquoine courtesy Dave Schroeder
    Challenge 84k USS Challenge (AT-59) off the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, 14 February 1921.
    US Navy photo # NH 633 from the collections of the US Naval Historical Center     		US Naval Historical Center
    USS Defiance / USS Challenge (SP-1015 / AT-59 / YT-126 / YTM-126)
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (DANFS)
    Commanding Officers
    01LT. Downes, Michael. James. USNRF29 July 1918 - 31 December 1921
    02CHBOSN. Merryman, Robert Henson31 December 1921 - 13 May 1922
     Decommissioned13 May 1922 - 21 February 1925
    03CHBOSN. Merryman, Robert Henson21 February 1925 - 2 April 1926
    04CHBOSN. Hill, Edwin Wright2 April 1926 - 8 May 1926
    05CHBOSN. James, William Alexander8 May 1926 - 20 February 1929
    06CHBOSN Davis, Frederick Joseph20 February 1929 - 24 November 1930
    07CHBOSN Romberg, Harry Benjamin24 November 1930 - 1 December 1931
    08CHBOSN Speaker, Albert1 December 1931 - ?
    Courtesy Wolfgang Hechler and Ron Reeves
    Crew Contact And Reunion Information
    U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation - Navy Log
    Additional Resources and Web Sites of Interest
    National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors
    Back To The Navsource Photo Archives Main Page Back To The Patrol Craft Index Back To The Service Ship Photo Index Back To The Section Patrol Craft (SP) Photo Index Back To The Fleet Tug (AT) Photo Index Back To The District Harbor Tug (YT) Photo Index Back To The District Harbor Tug. Medium (YTM) Photo Index
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    This page is created and maintained by Gary P. Priolo
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History
    Last Updated 26 September 2015