The USS Mosopelea (ATF-158) was an Abnaki-class tugboat during World War II and the Cold War. The ship was laid down, launched, and commissioned in 1945, and reclassified a year earlier. Following shakedown, the tugboat operated primarily out of Norfolk, conducting cruises to Caribbean and Gulf Coast ports until June 1948. For the next 16 years, the tug served along the U.S. eastern seaboard, regularly visiting major ports while also making frequent Caribbean cruises and occasional assignments in Labrador and Newfoundland. During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the ship was placed on standby emergency status and towed Army personnel barges from Charleston to Port Everglades in preparation for a potential invasion of Cuba. In 1964, she deployed with the 6th Fleet to the Mediterranean for six months, becoming the first fleet tug with full salvage and diving capabilities assigned there. The vessel continued Atlantic Fleet service until 1969 and resumed duties after a 1970 overhaul. The USS Mosopelea was decommissioned in 1973 and stricken from the Register in 1992. Because of its toxicity, asbestos is one of the biggest black marks against the shipbuilding industry over the past century, and it’s still causing health damage for thousands of Navy veterans.
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