USS ATA-184, an 835-ton auxiliary ocean tug built at Orange, Texas, was commissioned in November 1944. She towed support craft to the southwest Pacific during the last part of that year and the first several weeks of 1945, then operated in the southern and western Pacific for the rest of 1945 and into 1946, mainly executing towing and salvage missions. ATA-184 returned to the U.S. West Coast in June 1946 and was promptly decommissioned and laid up. In July 1948, while in "mothballs", she was renamed Kalmia.
The defense buildup accompanying the Korean War brought Kalmia back into active service. Recommissioned in May 1952, she was thereafter based at San Diego, California. Her duties included target towing, serving as a launching platform for target drone aircraft, as well as performing the towing and other work expected of a tug. These missions kept her busy almost to the end of her U.S. Navy career, which arrived at the beginning of July 1971, when she was decommissioned and transferred to Columbia. Renamed Bahia Utria, she served in that nation's navy until 1986.
This page features all the views we have concerning USS Kalmia (ATA-184), which was originally named ATA-184.
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 102801 USS Kalmia (ATA-184) Underway, probably soon after recommissioning in 1952. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 76KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 102802 USS Kalmia (ATA-184) Underway, probably soon after recommissioning in 1952. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 102804 USS Kalmia (ATA-184) Underway, circa the mid-1950s. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 620 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 102803 USS Kalmia (ATA-184) Underway on 16 January 1964. Photographed by PH2 J. Kruckenberg. Note the catapult on Kalmia's foredeck for launching target drone aircraft. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Online Image: 56KB; 740 x 610 pixels |
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Photo #: K-77750 Ex-USS Vincennes (CL-64) Is towed out of San Diego Bay, California, by USS Kalmia (ATA-184). Assisting are the harbor tugs Muskegon (YTB-763), alongside Vincennes, and Arawak (YTM-702), off Vincennes' stern. Photograph is dated 7 October 1969. The old cruiser was expended as a target off the coast of Southern California on 28 October 1969. Note that her gun barrels have been cut off. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Online Image: 92KB; 740 x 535 pixels Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system as Photo # 428-K-77750. Though reproductions of this photo from the Naval Historical Center's collections are available in black & white only, those from the National Archives should be available in color. |
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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