USS Kalmia, a 1000-ton Bagaduce class tug, was commissioned in mid-November 1919. She was assigned to icebreaking and towing duty in the St. Lawrence River during late 1919 and the first five months of 1920, then went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which was her base for the next fourteen years. In July 1920, when the Navy implemented its hull number system, she was designated AT-23. Early in 1934 Kalmia was sent to the Caribbean area as part of the Special Service Squadron and, later in that year, she was transferred to the Pacific.
In mid-1941, after more than six years of duty out of San Diego, California, Kalmia returned to the Atlantic. She operated in New England waters until October 1944, then briefly served as a target tug in Chesapeake Bay. In the meantime, in May 1944, she had been redesignated ATO-23. The tug went back to the West Coast early in 1945 and was employed on towing and target support work into 1946. USS Kalmia was placed out of commission in May of that year and sold in January 1947.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Kalmia (Tug # 23, later AT-23 and ATO-23).
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 51164 USS L-1 (SS-40) Tied up alongside USS Kalmia (AT-23) off Lewes, Delaware, on 5 February 1921. L-1's after ballast tanks have been partially filled, raising her bow. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 70KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 52220 USS Kalmia (AT-23) At the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 3 June 1926. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 102782 USS California (BB-44) Leaving San Diego, California, 23 May 1938. USS Kalmia (AT-23) is in the foreground. Collection of Chief Boatswain's Mate Ralph E. Turpin, USN. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 50KB; 740 x 465 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 84668 Naval Operating Base, Portland, Maine Aerial photograph of the waterfront, taken circa 1944-1945, with the State Street Pier in the right center and the Grand Trunk Pier to the left. Tugs in the upper right center are USS Kalmia (ATO-23) and USS Iuka (ATO-37). Courtesy of Donald M. McPherson, 1976. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph. Online Image: 166KB; 900 x 750 pixels Note: See Photo # NH 84668-A for a reproduction of Mr. McPherson's notes concerning this photograph. |
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If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 14 March 2005