Wicomico

Wicomico

A fresh water duck.

(Yard Tug No. 26: t. 152; 1. 91'5"; b. 21'; dr. 10' s. 10 k.; a. 1 3-pdr., 1 1-pdr.)

Wicomico (Yard Tug No. 26)—a steam tug built at Philadelphia by Neafie and Levy as C. G. Coyle—was completed in 1892. Acquired by the Navy from W. G. Coyle for service during the Spanish-American War the tug was renamed Choctaw and commissioned on 19 April 1898, Lt. (jg.) Walter O. Hulme in command.

Attached to the Auxiliary Naval Force for patrol duty during the war with Spain, Choctaw operated in the Gulf of Mexico through the cessation of hostilities. On 26 August 1898, she was decommissioned at the Pensacola Navy Yard. Recommissioned on 15 June 1899, Choctaw sailed for Portsmouth, N.H., with Monongahela in tow, before reporting to the naval training station at Newport, R.I., for duty as a yard tug and ferry. Subsequently detached and sent to the Norfolk Navy Yard for repairs, the ship was again placed out of commission on 15 July 1902.

Placed back in active service in 1904, Choctaw served at the Washington Navy Yard through World War I. She was renamed Wicomico on 20 February 1918 and designated YT-26 on 17 July 1920. Transferred to the Norfolk Navy Yard on 21 April 1921, Wicomico served in the 5th Naval District through the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, and into the following year.

On 15 February 1940, Wicomico collided with Goff (DD-247) in Hampton Roads and sank shortly thereafter. Struck from the Navy list on 27 February 1940, the ship was salvaged and subsequently scrapped.